The Lost Senshi: Great Angel of Fire
by emmalemon10
Summary: Sequel to Another Senshi. When Emma finds out that her cousin Kasadi is going to transfer to a smart school in Japan she's thrilled. But things go down hill fast when they realize that Kas is destined to rid the world of a new evil by sacrificing herself.
1. Prologue

Great Angel of Fire

Prologue

Kasadi sat at her sketch table working. Her husband was at work, and the kids were at school, except for the youngest, who was napping. So, she was getting some work done before the house went into madness again in a few hours.

Kasadi had almost finished her sketch of the newest top for her new clothing line _Phoenix_ when her cell phone rang in her pocket. She jumped up and tried to fish it out of her jeans before it went to voice mail.

"Hello?" she asked.

"...Kas..." Kasadi nearly fell over from surprise when she heard the voice.

"_Meggie!?_" Kasadi hissed into the phone. She hadn't heard from her remaining best friend since...

"Kasadi. I'm about two hours outside of the city." Meggie said. "Can you meet me at the Corner Cafe?"

"Uh..um...Yeah. Yeah. Of course." Kasadi replied coming out of her stupor. " Meggie...Where have you been?"

" I'll answer the questions when I get there. It's about Emma."

"Meggie..."Kasadi said quietly, putting a hand to her forehead. "Meg, you do know that...that Emma's.."

"Yeah. I know Emma died. Hoshiko too. Just meet me at the cafe in two hours. My treat." And with that, Meggie hung up. Kasadi flopped into her chair. She hadn't heard from Meggie in nine years. Nine years since Meggie ditched the Senshi and took off for who knows where.

The last time she saw her, it was her wedding day. She and Meggie had waited in the bridal room hoping that Emma would miraculously show up with Hoshiko. But when she didn't, Kasadi got married without her cousins there.

So, she and her new husband had went on their honeymoon and when she came back, Meggie was gone. She just disappeared leaving a note saying that she would be okay and that she just had to get away.

Kasadi was devistated. Both of her best friends were gone now. So, after a while she moved on. She had her husband, and later she had her children. She had her work. She had the Senshi. So, after so long of pushing Meggie and Emma and Hoshiko from her mind, hearing Meggie's voice caused some problems.

The tears poured from her eyes as the memories flooded back. The memories of the lonliness she felt when Meggie left. After pulling herself together, Kasadi took a deep breath. She had an hour and a half before she would have to meet Meggie. She wrote a note for her kids saying that she would be home as soon as possible. She then woke up her little one and got her ready to go. She didn't really trust babysitters with her kids. If she needed to go out, she either didn't go, took them with her, or took them to her in-laws. Although, her older two could take care of themselves until their father got home.

After having her daughter bundled up for the chilly Tokyo air, she called her husband and told him that she was out and might be a little late.

"Hello Rose-Marie. Wanna go for a ride?" Kasadi asked her one year old. She just looked up at her mother with a smile and held her arms out. Kasadi picked her up and took her out to the car.

When Kasadi got there, she unpacked the baby and got a table to wait. "Hey Rosie? You want some milk?" She asked her daughter.

"yayayayaya" Rose-Marie babbled and played with a straw. Kasadi smiled and pulled out a bottle from the baby bag and set it in front of the baby, who abandoned the straw and began to suck happily on the bottle. Kasadi ordered a Hot Chocolate for herself and waited.

She was wondering why Meggie decided to reappear all of a sudden. She had been gone for nine years. Well, she obviously found out about Emma and Hoshiko being dead. So that could have been it, but how did she find out? Did Serena find her somehow and not tell her.

Many thoughts like this raced through her head as she doodled on a napkin with a pen. This brought her back to when she found out Emma had died three years earlier.

She was getting her then five year old daughter Aria and her then three year old son, Lukas (Luke for short) ready for a trip to the mall. Her husband was at work, and they were going out on the town. She had just opened the door of their house when she saw him. It was a Lunarian Guard with a Summon. She was to report to the Lunarian Palace the next morning.

She had first thought that they had found Emma and Hoshiko. But when she got there, she found that it was much worse. They found them alright, but Emma was dead. And Hoshiko, didn't remember anything. Kasadi remembered looking at Hoshiko, who was so confused and scared. She had tried to convince Serena to let her take Hoshiko home to have a normal childhood on Earth, but Serena said it would be best to keep Hoshiko on the Moon. At least until they found out what happened to Hoshiko to lose her memory or they found Meggie, who was the girl's legal gaurdian.

Hoshiko didn't regain her memory. So, Kasadi tried again, only this time suggesting that Hoshiko go to Emma's parents. But Serena put that suggestion down as well, saying that Hoshiko wasn't going anywhere until Meggie was found. Kasadi was furious with Serena. Sam dieing was tragic. Kasadi had cried for weeks when she found out. But, Serena was holding Hoshiko away from her mother's family who hadn't seen her since the night before they disappeared. Her Aunt and Uncle were waiting anxiously to be able to see their long lost granddaughter, but Serena was shutting her in that castle. At least Josh got to see her on a semi-regular basis.

Kasadi remembered saying some colorful words to Serena. Kasadi couldn't understand why she was doing this to Emma's family. If Serena wasn't going to hand over custody, she could have at least arranged for Emma's parents see their granddaughter. Hotaka and Beth were not as young as they used to be, and they wouldn't be around forever.

Kasadi was planning another trip to explain to Serena when she recieved the second summon. The same sinking feeling from the time before, returned. Kasadi transported to the Moon the moment she arranged for her husband to come stay with them.

When Kasadi got the news that Hoshiko died, she had nearly punched Serena in the face. Serena let her get hurt. She let her cousin die. Serena had let the last remaining bit of Emma die. And Serena gave Kasadi the job to tell her Aunt and Uncle.

It was terrible. Beth had smiled when she saw Kasadi on the front stoop the next day until she saw her face. It was almost as if she could tell that she was going to find out that her only daughter's only daughter was dead as well. Kasadi sat her Aunt and Uncle down and explained. Her Aunt had broken down immediately, but Hotaka remained errily calm. You could see him break from the look of his eyes, but other than that, there was no emotion.

They never got to see their granddaughter.

After telling her Aunt and Uncle, as well as her parents, Kasadi went back to the Lunar palace and resigned from the Senshi. She said that she had to worry about her own children now, and being a super hero did not coincide with being a wife and mother. But she and Serena both knew that it was because Kasadi wanted no part with the senshi after what happened, not because of her children.

She hadn't spoken to Serena since. It was now nearly a month and a half later, and she was still sitting in the cafe, waiting for Meggie's arrival.

"Mamamamamamama,"Rose-Marie babbled on and grabbed her mother's hand. "Mamamama" Kasadi gave a watery smile to her little one.

"Well yes, love. I'll give you some attention now. Sound good?" Kasadi asked taking Rose-Marie out of the highchair. She was too busy getting Rose-Marie settled in her lap to look up when the bell on the door of the shop rang.

"Hello Kasadi."

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A.N: I know. mini cliffhanger. But hey. I'm posting a brand new story. And this the prologue. I will post chapter one the moment Meggie e-mails it to me. See you then!


	2. You're dating a Junior

A.N: WELCOME to a brand new installment to the Lost Chapters Series of fanfictions by me and Sailor Xena. For those of you who have followed from the beginning, Rock on! Those of you who are just getting here, STOP. TURN AWAY. AND GO READ THE MISSING SAILOR AND THEN THE MISSING SAILOR THE DIRECTOR'S CUT. If you don't, none of this will make sense. So, enjoy chapter one of story three in the Lost Chapters: Great Angel of Fire

Disclaimer: Okay people. Here's the deal. I continue to tell you all that I don't own Sailor Moon and I'm still getting sued. Come on people. How am I going to get into a good college someday with all of these Lawsuits being pressed against me? Please. Think of the person who needs and education!

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Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 1

"Tenth Grade is gonna be Awesome!" Meggie danced down the stairs.

"What makes you so sure?" Emma asked as she poked her head out of her bedroom door with a annoyed look on her face.

"Because." Meggie said. " I have friends again. I have Drama club. And I have foster parents who aren't trying to kill me. I have real parents who did try to kill me. But they're in jail."

"You also have a boyfriend…" Emma said with smile.

"He's not my boyfriend." Meggie said just a tad too quickly.

"Meg...he gotchya." Emma laughed.

"He's not my boyfriend." She said again.

"Sure Meggie." Emma said going back into her room.

"Not to mention. I actually have a guardian who can sign my report cards. I don't have to forge a signature anymore. Because a certain cat didn't have opposable thumbs." Meggie said the last part in a mock tone.

"Yeah, but wasn't it that same cat who kept you from getting caught by during a certain visit to a hospital in London?" Gabriella asked walking out of Meggie's room.

"Aw Gabby. Don't worry. You are still my favorite talking kitty." Meggie smiled rubbing the cat's ears.

"Speaking of talking kitty...where's Luna?" Emma asked hopping out into the hallway pulling on her socks.

"Right here..." Luna crawled out of the Master bedroom sleepily.

"Luna...why were you in my parents' bedroom?" Emma asked.

"Well...I got locked in there last night when I was napping under their bed." Luna said. "Their room is comfy."

"Okay...just be more careful...I am your legal guardian until Serena graduates college." Emma said.

"Yeah yeah yeah." Luna said walking into Emma's room for more sleep.

"Okay Gabby. No parties while we're gone, kay?" Meggie smiled.

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Gabriella walked into Meggie's room, for her own cat napping.

"Okay Meg. We gotta take off. Sam just pulled into the driveway." Emma said speeding down the stairs. "Bye Mom! Sam's here for me and Meggie!"

"No Kyö?" Beth asked as she walked out of the kitchen with her coffee.

"Nimrod got the car keys taken away the other day when he hit their mailbox..." Meggie sighed.

"Your boyfriend." Emma laughed as she ran out the door.

"He's not my boyfriend!!" Meggie yelled running after her. Beth just laughed. Having Meggie with them was really good. How Meggie got there in the first place, Beth still hadn't gotten all of the details. But, the girl had always been like a second daughter for them, and that was enough.

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"No No No No!" Emma cried. The first day of school went off with a rocky start. Already, she couldn't get her locker open and she had three minutes to get to her first class, which was on the other side of the school.

"Emma...you better run..." Sam said dashing down the hallway himself.

"I can't open my locker!!!" Emma cried. Sam looked at the locker.

"Ah hah. This was my friend Hiro's locker last year." Sam pounded the top of the locker then the bottom then the middle. The door flew open and Emma rejoiced. She pulled out her Biology book.

"There's a short cut." Sam said. Emma looked at him "To get to the biology lab run through the library when the librarian isn't looking. You'll be there in half the time."

"I _love_ you." Emma said thankfully.

"I love you too. Now RUN!" Emma took off down the hallway. Took a sharp left into the library. She bounded across the room and out the second exit just as the librarian came out. She looked around and saw the biology lab. She took off into a brisk run and slid on her feet just before she passed the classroom. She walked in, just as the bell rang.

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Lunch couldn't have come sooner. They were able to get outside after 5 hours of classes. Emma had gotten past her annual first day of school freak out without a very big hitch.

"Eww...way to start off a new year..." Rini scrunched her nose at what was to be assumed to be macaroni and cheese. Emma and Meggie pushed their plates away as Sam fed his to a roaming squirrel...which scurried away to die. Katsuro was smart enough to brown bag it that day.

"Hey guys." Kyö came over.

"Hi." Everyone said.

"Hey Meggie..." Kyö said sitting down next to her.

"Hey what?" Meggie asked as she stole one of Katsuro's chips.

"You're dating a Junior." He said with a smile.

"You are not my boyfriend." Meggie said.

"You haven't killed me yet..." Kyö said.

" 'Yet' being the operative word." Meggie smiled with a mocking tone.

"Whatever. Anyway. And after this year, you're going to be dating a senior..." Kyö said.

"Let's see if you make it...grade wise..." Meggie said. " and lets see if you even have a girlfriend..."

"So you admit it...you're my girlfriend." Kyö smiled.

"Kyö." Meggie stood up, and starting getting her books together.

"What?"

"Shut up." She turned and walked away.

Kyö sat down opposite where she had just been. "Oh yeah. She digs me."

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	3. Godzilla of Letters from Kasadi

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Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 2

" FREEEEDOOOOOMMMMM!" Emma threw herself on the floor when she walked through the door.

" Does this happen every year?" Kyo asked as he walked into the Hanzo's humble abode.

" Pretty much." Sam said. " Come on Em. After school snack awaits." Sam pulled Emma to her feet and they walked into the kitchen.

" Guys I'm going to get the mail." Meggie yelled as Rini and Katsuro walked in.

Emma climbed up onto the counter as tradition to get the coveted Mitrow Family chocolate cookie recipe. " Been in the family since my mom's great grandmother was born." Emma said as she handed the cookie jar to Sam and she jumped down.

" Why are they in that high cupboard?" Kyo asked.

" Her Dad is diabetic. And he doesn't stick to his diet all that well." Sam said.

" EMMA!" Meggie ran into the kitched with an enormous envelope. " LETTER FROM KASADI!"

"The Godzilla of letters from Kasadi." said Rini as she stole a soda from the fridge.

" GAH!" Emma ran over, nearly tripping over a chair as she took the letter and ripped it open. She started reading allowed.

_Dear Hanzo family (official and non),_

_What's up, ya'll? I'm glad to hear that everything's worked out with Meggie! I was worried sick down here! Speaking of which, are you alright, Emma? No hospital visits this year, I hope? Good._

_As you all should know, I haven't kept in contact much these days (you guys BETTER have noticed!), and with good reason too. When dad saw the last phone bill, he FLIPPED out. And recently, some retard sent out some virus that killed my poor computer. (May it rest in peace, the poor Windows 98) Soooooo, I've been forced to resort to snail mail, which goes as fast as a dying snail when it has to go __overseas._

_So, are you ready to hear the awesome news that is so awesome I made a whole paragraph dedicated to it's awesomeness? No? Okay, I'll wait._

_I kid, I kid. Put down your weapons. So, what happened is, a couple of weeks ago, mom took me to this testing site. She explained what it was for, but you know me, I wasn't listening. I think I was text-messaging… I don't remember. Anyways, I took some tests there, and then we went home. Complete waste of a Saturday, in my opinion._

_Well, after about a week, our mailbox was suddenly flooded with these letters from prestigious boarding schools all around the world. As it turns out, I'm an effin' genius. The parental units were, of course, completely supportive of kicking me ou- I mean, of me taking this rare opportunity to broaden my horizons. And guess what!_

_No, you HAVE to guess._

" Um...She's...going to...Hogwarts?" Kyö asked. Meggie looked at him with a look that could only describe how dumb he was.

_Okay, since ya'll are obviously not guess well enough, I'll tell you. I was accepted into the Tokyo Academy for the Intellectually Gifted! Better yet, it's apparently on the same block as your school!_

'_Kay, Em, mom and dad think that this school is the best, because you are all there, and I get to stay with my two bestest friends/cousins/sisters in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! Have your Mom call mine; she wants to know if I can stay with you guys instead of in a dorm room with strangers I don't know. Knowing Aunt Beth, it won't be a problem. _

_When you get this, call me. I'll drag myself out of bed if I must! Ooh, and what I also found out about my school is that your school lets students from my school join their drama club, since my school's an academic based school. So, YAYNESS!_

_I heard that Phantom of the Opera was a huge hit, and that you guys are going to do a show in New York City. Nice! Since it's obvious that you won't be doing a new play this year, I'll try to be a stage director or something. I can't wait to see you guys again! Give everyone my love!_

_Lots and Lots of Lovies,_

_Kasadi_

_P.S. Don't let Auntie Beth hide the care package I sent!_

" Care Package?" Emma asked. " What care package?"

"Hey Kids." Beth walked in. Her greeting was only returned by two hated glares by her daughter, and her might-as-well-be-adopted-daughter.

" You..." Emma growled.

" What?" Beth asked.

" Where is the care package?" Emma asked.

Beth looked around the kitchen full of teenagers. " You'll never get me alive!" she yelled before running into the living room and up the stairs.

" GET HER!" Meggie pointed after her. The two girls chased after Beth, leaving their friends behind blinking at where they had been seconds before.

" So...who's Kasadi?" Kyo asked.

" Emma's cousin, Meggie's best friend, next to Emma." Rini said munching on her cookie.

" I see." Kyo nodded.

" She's like...three weeks younger than Emma..." Sam said.

" Ah."

" GOT IT!" a high pitched screech filled the house. Emma and Meggie came running in. Emma was holding a big UPS box over her head.

" Gimme the knife!" Meggie held her hand out.

" Meggie, you know what we talked about when it comes to weapons, and I'm in the room..." Kyo said.

" I need to open the box moron." Meggie said.

" Well then I'll be in the other room..." Kyo slinked out into the living room. Meggie rolled her eyes and pulled a knife out of the knife block. She cut the tape and opened the box. On the top were two t-shirts. One yellow, the other black. The yellow one had " Sailor Star Look-Alike" in silver and the black one said said " Sailor Xena Look-Alike" in gold. On those there was a note that said.

" I know how much you guys love those two.-Kas"

Also, there were some other little goodies. Some Cootie Shot pins, stickers and CD's. Some home made chocolates from the Montrose Candy Store. The latest Film Club movies, school pictures of all their buddies back home and a bulletin board filled with news paper clippings.

Most of them had headings like " Senshi Saves Tokyo Again!" and " Youma Attacks Suddenly Decrease thanks to the Sailor Senshi." Then there were others that said. " Sailor Star, Saves Little Girl from Car Accident." and " Sailor Xena, warrior Senshi makes her debut!" and " Tuxedo Mask...Jr. WHO IS THIS WACKO!?"

" THE MEDIA IS STILL BLOWING IT OUT OF PROPORTION!" Kyo yelled looking at the clip.

" Wow...look at this stuff!" Emma beamed at her t-shirt.

" Wow..." Meggie said.

" Don't you guys have to call Kasadi?" Sam asked.

" That's right!" Emma took off for her cell phone in her book bag.

" How'd you get the box?" Rini asked Meggie.

" Tickle fight." Meggie said with a smile.

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	4. Welcome Kasadi!

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Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 3

It was a lovely Saturday morning. Emma and Meggie got through the first two weeks of 10th grade alive. Barely. But they made it. And this Saturday was a very special day. Kasadi was flying in that afternoon at the airport and the two girls were really excited about it. They had spent the past week "Kasifying" the guest bedroom so it would be suitable for Kasadi's wacky tastes, and they couldn't wait to unveil it.

Plus, they had loads of catching up to do. They realized that one of three things were going to happen. Scenario 1: Kasadi slept on the plane and would be wired for the next sixteen hours even if the others had gone to bed. Scenario 2: In her excitement, Kasadi didn't sleep at all and would be completely jet lagged by the time they got her to her room, and she would just fall right asleep. Or. Scenario 3: Kasadi would sleep on the plane, but would be jet lagged anyway.

They were leaning towards either 2 or three. Kasadi loved her sleep. Even when she wasn't tired. She was part of Emma's family after all. Those Mitrow relatives sure loved their sleep.

Little did they know, it was Scenario 2: Kasadi was bouncing up and down in her seat on the plane, scaring everyone around her. She was also chattering nonstop to the person next to her, who seemed about ready to pull his hair out.

Normally, she wasn't that hyper. But she was seeing Emma and Meggie for the first time in ages! She was hyper.

" TAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Emma screamed as she and Meggie waited on main street outside of the general store. One finally stopped and the two got in. " Tokyo International Airport." She told the driver and they took off.

" I'm so excited..." Meggie said in her " I'm so excited" voice. " The whole gang is going to be back together!"

" At this rate, the entire Film Club is going to move into my house for odd reasons, and then, my life will be complete..." Emma smiled.

" Do you think your parents would be able to handle a house full of about 15 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 who are all so hopped up on Mountain Dew and what ever the aliens put in the air in Mr. Koloski's room?"

" No...no they wouldn't." Emma laughed. " Kyle would probably give them both strokes."

" Emma...Kyle graduated. He was a senior last year..."

" NOOOOoooooOOO" Emma said. " I completely forgot...where's he going to school?"

" I don't know...I think he's staying relatively close to Montrose." Meggie said. " But I left before I could find out exactly which school he was going to." Meggie was suddenly quiet.

" I see." Emma said. She reached over and squeezed Meggie's shoulder. "He said you'd always be like his little sister. That hasn't changed. Doesn't matter _where_ he's going to school." she assured her. " Oh, here we are." Emma said. They pulled up in front of the airport. They still had about 45 minutes before Kasadi was supposed to land so they thought they'd visit Darien, who was still working part time at the airport.

" Hello ladies." Darien said when he saw them approach his station at the Customer Service desk.

" Yes young man. We would like to know where the ladies personal items are." Meggie started talking like she didn't know him. Darien went bright red. Emma elbowed her and they burst out laughing.

"Meggie, where's your six-foot-one phantom-shadow?" Darien retorted.

Meggie paused. "I don't know." She looked over her shoulder, as if expecting him to peer out around the magazine rack or something. "Haven't seen or heard from him all day." She turned back to Darien and folded her arms on the desk. "I think he died."

"No, I grounded him." Darien said, moving a stack of papers.

"Grounded him?" asked Emma, confused. "You can't ground him; you're not his dad."

"True," he said, smiling. "But I know his dad, and his dad knows the whole can of worms, so he grounded him for me."

"What did he do?"

"He teleported without permission. I told him, you guys- with the exception of Rini- are all still really new to this. If you guys try to transport, you could get hurt."

"Like seriously killed?" asked Meggie, slightly uninterested.

"Wait- we can _teleport_?! By ourselves!?" exclaimed Emma as quietly as she could.

"No." said Darien quickly. "You're not allowed. Not yet."

"When _will_ we be allowed?" Meggie was suddenly more interested.

"Not for a long while." He then decided to change the subject. "You here to pick up Kasadi?"

" Yeah. She's landing in less than an hour." Emma said. " So we thought we'd come visit my favorite future brother-in-law."

" What?" Darien asked.

" Um...I thought we were through this...Emma marries Sam someday, you're currently engaged to Sam's sister...you know?" Meggie said. " Even I have the whole story and I've only been told the entire story less than four months ago and you've known for about two years."

" Oh...right." Darien said. " I'm running on like 4 hours of sleep right now." Darien said.

" Why do you work so many hours?" Emma asked.

" Weddings don't pay for themselves." Darien said.

" But you guys haven't set a date for the wedding yet..." Meggie said.

" I know, but we need to have the deposit ready for when we do..." Darien said. " We made a deal with Serena's parents. They are going to pay for the reception, but me and Serena take care of the ceremony, monk, flowers and so on."

" I see...how do you work a job, graduate school and sleep into one day?" Meggie asked.

" Coffee...lots and lots of coffee." Darien said."

" Ah." The two said.

" Hey, I think Kasadi's plane just landed." Darien said looking at his computer with all the flight plans on it.

" What terminal?" Meggie asked.

" Um...875B" Darien said. " Go straight into the International terminals, second hallway on your right."

" Thanks Darien. We'll bring Kas around when we get her picked up."

Emma and Meggie followed the directions of Dariena and soon found the baggage claim that was located in the terminal they were looking for.

There stood Kasadi. She was looking for her luggage in the little baggage-go-round thing.

Her hair was longer, layered, and had highlights in it!

" EEEK!"Kasadi jumped and turned. She smiled widely.

"EMMA! MEGGIE!" She hugged them.

" Your hair!" Emma fingered the locks.

"Do you like it?"

" Yes!" Meggie said.

Kasadi beamed. "I knew you guys would! Mom took me to the beauty salon last week, and-" She had turned around to look for her luggage. She yelped. "THERE'S MY DUFFLE!" She snatched at it, but missed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she wailed, chasing it as it was carted around on the conveyer belt.

She lunged, and pounced. The duffle safely escaped inside the conveyer belt thingy. Kasadi pouted. "Now we gotta wait for it to come back out again!"

But of course, that would have been too easy. Oh no, it's gotta be harder than that. Right as she said that, the conveyer belt STOPPED.

It stopped moving. Completely. There was a mad scramble as the lucky people who's luggage was exposed pushed to the front to grab their luggage. In a matter of seconds, it was empty, and Kasadi stood there, staring at the evil device with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Slowly, she turned to face Emma and Meggie. She pointed at the conveyer belt. "THAT HELL BELT ATE MY DUFFLE!!" Kasadi yelled. "Dudes! Did you SEE that?!"

Yes. Kasadi had the habit of calling everyone a dude. No matter what gender they were.

After about a half hour of Kasadi crying over her lost duffle bag, they finally got management to start the conveyer belt again, and Kasadi was very happy again. They took Kasadi to see Darien for a few minutes, but he was soon called away to help an old lady get her wheel chair on one of the planes. So they caught another taxi and went home. Where they showed Kasadi her super sweet Kasified bedroom.

Kasadi thought her room was totally rad. It was painted light colors on the walls, and the bedspread and sheets were blue and purple. There were tons of different kinds of pillows on the bed. There was also a desk, and a regular chair to sit at it in. There were two beanbag chairs and one of those half-sphere chair things.

The carpet was white and fluffy, and there was a lava lamp instead of a regular lamp, as well as just a plain old fan with the lights attached

"I LOVE IT!" Kasadi screamed, running over and jumping up and down on her bed.

" We're glad...I used every muscle in my body to get the purple trip just right...not to mention the little blue squigglies on the trim..." Emma said stretching her back. But she only got some snoring in reply. Kasadi had somehow bellyflopped on her bed and she was out.

" Wow...So... Scenario two?" Meggie asked.

" Or Scenario three. We'll have to find out from her when she wakes up." Emma said.

" Oh right." Meggie said.

" What do we do while she sleeps?"

" Well...Chi-Chi did just buy us the FMA movie with the new OVA on the special features..." Meggie said. " It will at least kill a few hours before she wakes up...and dinner will probably be done by then anyway."

" Sounds good." Emma said. They went into her room and started the movie on Emma's laptop.

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The movie was awesome...sad at the end. Emma cried. Meggie just made a face that said " I.WILL. NOT. CRY" during the ending. Then they watched the OVA.

"Somewhere in our world in 2005, Edward Elric will turn one hundred years old." the screen read just before the OVA ended. Emma and Meggie stared at the screen.

" He NEVER gets back to Amestris!?" Meggie asked. " THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!"

" He'll be 102 now..." Emma said. " Almost 103..."

" Somewhere in our world..." Meggie said. She looked at Emma.

" No No No..." Emma said.

" It's possible..." Meggie said.

" NO! First, Inuyasha, and then Alice 19th! THERE IS NO WAY THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ME THREE TIMES!" Emma glared at the ceiling. " And we ARE NOT going to find out."


	5. Ties are For Boys!

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 4

The rest of the weekend went smoothly. On Sunday morning, The Hanzo's went to church. Kasadi got a ride from Mina to church since Kasadi was Baptist. Mina offered to do that until Kasadi got used to the bus systems since the Hanzos had to go way out to get to their own church. Then Monday came around again, and Kasadi was going to start her brand-new school.

" Kasadi..." Beth shook her niece awake. Kasadi grumbled and turned on her side.

"No, Emma... You're not dragging me out of bed again!" She grumbled in her sleep.

" No hunny. It's Aunt Beth." Beth laughed. She was definitely a Mitrow.

"Huh...?" Kasadi opened her eyes. She blinked up at her aunt. "Oh... Sorry, Aunt Beth..." With a yawn, Kasadi closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

Beth rolled her eyes and went into the last resort. She took the blankets and sheets and ripped them off the bed. Kasadi immediately went into the fetal position at the sudden cold. It didn't help that the girl was wearing a tank top and gym shorts.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! My covers! My precious, precious covers! Warmth! Waaaaaaaaaaarmth!" Kasadi cried with her eyes closed, reaching out and flailing blindly with one hand, trying to find the covers.

" Get up. You have to be at school a little early. Your uncle is taking you in to finish your registration." Beth said.

After trying to get her aunt to give her the covers back, Kasadi finally gave in. She opened her eyes and looked around. Slowly, she eased her way out of bed. Then she collapsed in her moon chair.

" Kasadi Monica Mitrow, don't you dare fall asleep in that chair. And don't make me put you in a freezing cold shower to make sure you stay awake." Beth warned.

Kasadi's eyes, which had been slowly drooping closed, shot open. She sprang to her feet. "Yes, Aunt Beth!"

" Your uniform is in your top drawer. You'll be getting four more at school today." Beth said.

"'Kay..." Kasadi dragged herself over to the drawer. She opened it and rummaged through it for a few moments, having stuffed her clothes into her drawers without any sort of system whatsoever, before pulling out the uniform.

Kasadi eyed the uniform. Maroon skirt, sweater vest, white blouse, and gold tie. "Maroon and white AGAIN? Am I doomed to live with these horrid colors?"

She held up the tie in one hand, staring at it. "... Some sort of hair band...?"

Kasadi held it to her waist. "Maybe a belt..."She frowned. "This is one PUNY belt." Kasadi shrugged and went into her bathroom to take a shower.

Fifteen minutes later, she was running down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She was holding her sweater vest in one hand, her socks and shoes in the other. And the tie was in her hair like a headband. She had decided it was supposed to be a headband.

"Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorning!" she sang, skipping into the kitchen. That hot shower had made her unusually cheerful. She most certainly was not a morning person. But this morning, she was for some reason.

Emma and Meggie were lazily eating their cereal. It was still so early in the year, waking up at 6 am had not been a full adjustment yet. Beth was making some coffee when she turned around and laughed at Kasadi's appearance.

Kasadi cocked her head to one said, blinking. "What's so funny?"

" Sweetie. I don't think that is a hair band.." Beth smiled. " It's a tie."

It was Kasadi's turn to laugh. "That's silly, Aunt Beth! Ties are for BOYS. I'm a girl!" She giggled once again at what she thought was one of her aunt's wacky ideas, sitting down at the table. She proceeded to put on her socks and shoes.

" Kas...girls where ties in the Harry Potter movies." Meggie reminded her.

"But those are uniforms for witches. Besides, that's in a MOVIE. Not everything in movies are real!"

" Kas...Most private schools involve ties for girls...they don't normally provide hair accessories..." Emma said.

Kasadi frowned a bit, touching the tie thoughtfully. Her hair was still wet from the shower. "... My school's special then!" she concluded with a smile.

Kasadi sighed and took out the tie. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and tied the tie around it. "There, happy now? It's a tie." Emma and Meggie sweatdropped as Beth smacked herself in the head.

" HOTAKA! TEACH YOUR NIECE HOW TO TIE A TIE!" Beth yelled up the stairs. " AND HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE FROM A NECK TIE AND A HAIR TIE!"

"I know how to tie a hair tie, Aunt Beth!" Kasadi said. She huffed to herself, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Not. A. Hair. Tie." Meggie said slowly. Kasadi wasn't paying any attention. She just kept rambling on to the world.

"Sheesh, I'm supposed to be a GENIUS, right? I think I know how to tie a hair tie!" Beth banged her head against the wall listening to her. And her husband still hadn't answered her.

" HOTAKAAAAAA!!! Beth yelled.

Hotaka walked down the stairs and looked at Kasadi. " Oh lord...Kasadi...come here."

Kasadi got up and walked to Hotaka. "Uncle Ho Ho! Tell them that I tied it right! It's a hair tie, so I tied it in my hair!" she whined.Uncle Ho Ho was her nickname for Hotaka. Like Ho ho ho, merry Christmas, or ding-dongs and ho ho snack cakes.

" Kasadi that is not a hair tie. You see that little points on each end, that is a tie for business suits and such. Your school has neckties for boys and girls. I checked the handbook." Hotaka explained as he tied it for her.

She frowned. "But... I'm a girl! If girls wear ties there, does that mean boys wear skirts?" Her eyes widened. "Eeeeeeeeeeeewwwww! I don't want to go there if the guys wear SKIRTS!" Something happened during Kasadi's stay in the womb, and it was quite obvious that whatever it was, it caused Kasadi's lack of the common sense that most people are born with.

"KASADI!" Everyone yelled at her.

" THIS. IS. A. NECK. TIE!" Meggie yelled pulling on the gold fabric. " The boys don't wear skirts. They wear pants. The girls wear neck ties! NOW SHUT UP AND EAT!" Kasadi, for the fear of her own life, sat down immediately and poured herself a bowl of cereal.

" Very well done Meggie." Emma said.

"Thank you." Meggie said.

" I think we're going to like having her around." Hotaka whispered to Beth, referring to Meggie.

"Yes we shall." Beth smiled, finishing her coffee.

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Name: _Kasadi Monica Mitrow_

Birthdate: _July 27, 1992_

Address: _1143 Nakawa St. Tokyo Japan_

Grade: 10

Parents: _Jacob and Carol Mitrow_

Legal Guardian(if from foreign country): _Hotaka and Bethany Hanzo_

Relationship to Student: _Uncle and Aunt_

Placement Exam Score:_6700_

Kasadi stared at the stack of papers ahead of her and blew a hair out of her face. After the tie fiasco, Kasadi replaced her 'hair tie' with a maroon Alice band.. She was sitting in the registration office of the new school she would be attending. She had finished most of them, and they all basically asked the same thing. Just this particular form answered one question that she just did not know.

Social Security Number:

"What?" Kasadi stared at the black line that still remained blank. " How the heck should I know my social security number? Isn't that supposed to be private anyway? Are they stealing my identity!?" Kasadi looked over to her uncle who was reading a book on the other side of the room. " Uncle Hotaka, their trying to steal my identity in resulting me getting in millions of dollars or yen, however you want to put it, in debt!"

" Social Security Number?" Hotaka asked, not looking up from his book.

" Si señor." Kasadi nodded. Hotaka walked over. He took the pen out of her hand and wrote down a series of numbers, which was obviously her social security number. "How'd you know that?"

"Your parents sent in your social security card with your birth certificate and everything. I memorized it for this purpose only." Hotaka explained, " For fear that I would lose the card itself."

" You are a smart man Mr. Uncle Ho Ho." Kasadi smiled.

"Thank you Kasadi." Hotaka laughed.

" Hello." A tall woman in a business suit walked in. " I'm Kaori Namatani. I'm the principal of the school."

"Hotaka Hanzo." Hotaka shook the women's hand. " This is my niece Kasadi Mitrow. She is starting this school."

"Ah yes. Kasadi, your previous school had nothing but positive remarks about you." The young woman smiled. " Welcome to Tokyo Academy for the Intellectually Gifted. You can call me Ms. Namatani."

" Hi." Kasadi smiled. All hyperness that she had minutes before, was right out the window now.

" Now, before we begin the tour, I need you, Hotaka, to sign some papers signifying that you and your wife are Kasadi's legal guardian." Hotaka signed the papers, which took up about five minutes of time he just didn't have, but the lab was going to have to deal without their honorary window cleaner tester (yes, the same window cleaner that caused them to move to Japan in the first place) for a little while. "Okay then, shall we begin the tour?"

" Okies." Kasadi said. They walked out to the hallway. It was a rather large school. It was almost like a small community college campus. They had different buildings for each subject. It even had a small elementary division for the very bright children.

" Our school was built 20 years ago and founded by my father Kuro Namatani. Then, it was just one, three story building. About the size of many of the high schools in the city. A fire occurred about five years ago, when I had just earned my master's degree in education. When the damage was taken care of, the city had offered us a grant to create a whole new school. A very large school as well. We were able to build an entire campus. The entire school is completely computerized. As you saw, you can only get into the building without escort with a key card, which Kasadi will receive after the tour. Each student will receive a laptop computer which is used for school work. It has a internet connection, word processor, encyclopedia, dictionary and other programs that she will need for the specific classes that she has signed up for. But, the computers can also be used for recreation. We do not limit our students to a little fun now and then." Ms.Namatani smiled.

" Can I download things onto the computer?" Kasadi asked.

"Yes, within reason though. We automatically allow cd burners with cd playing capabilities, DVD drives, some photo software like Photoshop or digital camera services. But, we do scan all computers for illegal content bi-weekly. If we find anything illegal, we start out with a warning, followed by 24 hour surveillance on everything the student uses on the laptop. After that, if the student has a third offence, automatic expulsion is issued. We haven't had any cases for any of these. So our policy is in good standing, and we haven't had to revoke any privileges."

"So, do I take notes with the laptop?"

"Sort of." Ms. Namatani said. " Each of your teachers will e-mail you the notes for the week. During your classes, your teacher goes over these notes. And at the end of each lesson there is a mini-quiz to see if you need any extra help in this lesson. If so, the teacher sends you some exercises that will be included with the night's homework. Teachers also get a notice if your computer is being used on something other than the lesson plan for that specific class. Your computer is encrypted with your school schedule. It knows what class you are in, during what time. You must use your laptop for the lesson. Say during lunch or a study hall or even your free period, you can use your lap top for recreation. But otherwise, when you are in class, you must use it for that class."

" So that means no web surfing if that particular class is boring, Miss Kasadi." Hotaka said. Kasadi gave her uncle a face that said 'Me? Web surf? During class? _Never!_'.

" All your homework can be e-mailed to your teacher immediately after you finish it. So the old " My dog ate my homework" cannot apply. And if by some reason, your homework gets lost in cyber space, you should have your work saved, so you can show your teacher that it is done. If you forget to save it, or just don't do it, it is up to the teacher on how to deal with that matter." Ms. Namatani said as they crossed one of the lawns. There were many works of art scattered over the property. It was a beautiful school. They toured the property and saw where each building was. It was definitely a modern school and you can't get into a building without a card key.

" I think you picked a good school Kas." Hotaka commented.

"And, after the terrorist attacks at Tokyo Central a few years back, we have made the school as safe as possible. Bullet proof windows, doors, and such." Ms. Namatani said. " It can happen anywhere so we take the greatest precautions."

" That is a good thing. My children were involved in those attacks. Both of them were seriously injured. They almost thought my daughter wouldn't have made it." Hotaka said, remembering that dark day Emma got her stomach slashed.

" Oh I'm so sorry. I hope she's okay." Ms. Namatani said.

"Oh yes. She made a full recovery. So did my son."

"I'm glad to hear that." the principal said.

"Hey," Hotaka said. " I really have to get to work now."

"Oh. We're done now." Ms. Namatani said. " We covered everything you need to know."

"Okay then." Hotaka said. " Kasadi, I will see you later, I've gotta run."

" Bye Uncle Ho Ho!" Kasadi waved. Hotaka gave a small salute before he headed for the main gates."

"Okay," Ms.Namatani started. " You are about 15 minutes early for home room, so if you want, I will take you there, and I will find you a guide for the week until you get used to things."

"Sounds good to me." Kasadi said.

"Also, there isn't much of a language barrier. Almost all of the students are very fluent in English. So, if you need to, feel free to speak in english as needed."

" Thanks. But, I've got the whole Japanese thing down. My cousin taught me. As well as my best friend." Kasadi said.

"Well good then." Ms. Namatani said. " I'll direct you to home room now."

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Kaasadi had never been the new kid before. So, the day had been a bit of a shock on how many questions people could ask. Even though she had asked many of the questions before when there had been a new student at her old school.

But she did survive the day. The computer part had been a bit of a hassle, but she made it. She caught on pretty quick, and soon she'd be a master of the new laptop in no time. Kasadi had also bee n truly happy when the school provides lunches for all students free of charge. No more hassle trying to remember if you had enough money in your account to get lunch. She really liked the school.

And most of the students were nice too. She wasn't the only student who was getting a full ride scholarship. There were students with money problems and got full scholarships at the school. But of course, as with any school, there were the posh rich kids that made everyone's lives miserable, but she didn't plan on getting in contact with any of them.

After school, Kasadi left the building and started walking down the street to Tokyo Central. She wanted to get to the Drama club early so that she could talk to Mrs. Nakemura personally about the stage manager position. She dodged through the crowded sidewalk. Most were in the blue and white uniforms that Emma and Meggie wore, so she knew school was let out.

Kasadi saw the gates to the school and turned in. She went through the front doors and attempted to find the auditorium. And since Kasadi cannot go anywhere without running, and she's not exactly known for her 'cat-like reflexes.' Stopping is a tiny bit of a problem especially when there is another blur of color coming from the opposite direction.

_**WHAM**_

Papers and a maroon Alice band went flying.

"owwwwwwwwwwwwwww" Kasadi groaned as she laid spread eagle on the hallway floor.

"Oh god that hurt." Said the other nearly unconscious girl. Kasadi sat up rubbing her bruised head. She opened her eyes to see who the other victim of possible brain damage was.

" Are you okay?" Kasadi asked. The other girl sat up.

" NO." She said rudely. Kasadi's jaw dropped. " What?"

"Takahashi Sakura." Kasadi glared. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"And you are?"

"Kasadi Mitrow." Kasadi glared. Obviously the other girl didn't recognize her.

"And I'm supposed to know who that is?" Sakura got to her feet. Kasadi still just glared up at her.

"I'm Emma Hanzo's cousin. The one who chased you out of the school in the 8th grade." Kasadi said, getting up herself and brushing off her skirt. Before talking again, Kasadi checked to make sure her brand-new laptop hadn't suffered and damage.

"Oh my god. Another one...how many Hanzo's can they allow in this school." Sakura started to gather her papers.

" Number 1, I'm a Mitrow. Not Hanzo. Number 2. I'm not going to this school, hence the completely different uniform." Kasadi said, putting her head band back into place. " I'm going to Tokyo Academy." Sakura made a "I don't believe you" face.

" Yeah. Like they'd let and _American_ there." Sakura said.

" Ah that's right. You're a racist twit." Kasadi said reaching into her purse and pulling out her new school ID. " Read it and weep." Sakura still looked unimpressed.

"So why are you here?"

"I'm the new stage manager for the drama club."

"Right." Sakura said.

"Ask Mrs. Nakemura yourself Takahashi." Kasadi said rubbing her forehead again. She looked at her hand and saw that there was the tiniest amount of blood. " Dammit." She looked At Sakura's head which also had a nice stream of blood trickling down her forehead. " You're bleeding."

"What?" Sakura touched her forehead and looked at her hand. " Oh my god. Hanzo, how fast were you going?"

"_Mitrow_" Kasadi growled. " And I don't know. I don't have a built in speedometer." Kasadi rolled her eyes. " Which way to the nurse?"

"This way." Sakura groaned and lead the way to the nurses office.

" So, I thought you transferred out of here." Kasadi said.

"I was in Kyoto for a year. My little sister was seeing a physical therapist. Best in the country. We came back once she got better." Sakura said.

"Why?"

"Not that it is any of your business, but she was in a car accident, that killed my father. She was in a coma for months. For some reason, she couldn't get the feeling back in her legs after all the surgeries. So we went to Kyoto."

"I'm sorry about your father." Kasadi said.

" Me too." Sakura replied as they turned into the nurse's office.

The nurse took one look at them and shooed them over to the chairs.

" Dear lord girls. What happened?" the nurse asked in her infamous busy-bee way.

" We had a head on collision." Kasadi said. " I just got here."

"You skipped school?" The nurse asked with disgust.

"No-I-," Kasadi started as the nurse pulled out a pad of paper. "What's that for?"

"This will be on Mr. Kamasuni's office tomorrow morning. What's your name girl?"

"Kasadi Mitrow, but you don't understand I-,"

" Cutting class..."The nurse started writing on the paper.

"Don't you see that I'm wearing a totally different uniform?" Kasadi asked as Sakura sat near by totally amused.

"Disobeying the dress code..."

"Jump in any time Takahashi." Kasadi glared.

"She was running in the hall too." Sakura added.

"Running in the hall..."

" NO!" Kasadi scrambled to her feet and over to the nurse's desk. " I am Kasadi Mitrow, new student of Tokyo Academy for the Intellectually Gifted. I am the new stage manager for the Drama club here! You have to believe me."

" Miss. Mitrow. Lower your voice right now." The nurse bellowed. " Or I will call your parents."

" But-," Kasadi tried to protest.

"Zip-it!"

"Yes ma'am." Kasadi sat back down next to Sakura, who was now giggling uncontrollably. " You're enjoying this. Aren't you?"

"Every bit of it."

" SHUSH!"

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	6. The Yen Will Mock Her No Longer

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 5

" Okay. Senshi meeting now in session." Serena said as everyone got comfortable in Rei's livingroom. Serena took a deep breath and started.. " Anything new?"

" Not really." Michelle said. " After Diamond was killed, things have been relatively quiet."

" No sign of Akusin?" Serena asked.

"None." Ami said. " It's like he left the face of the earth. No mysterious robberies, hostage situations, murders." It had been quiet for a while. Since the death of Diamond happened. And he was really dead. Really, _really_ dead this time. Meggie had seriously killed him. Dead.

" I guess for now, no news is good news." Serena said.

" It's a good thing. We all need a break." Rei said. " Emma, Meggie, Rini and Kyö if anyone else after the diamond thing."

" Guys. Stop worrying. It's behind us." Emma said. "Nothing too terrible happened that it's going to scar us for life."

"Anyway." Kyö changed the subject.

" Anyway what?"

" I don't know. I just wanted to take the focus off of the past." Kyö said. Meggie rolled her eyes as Emma and the others laughed. Only Kyö would do that.

" How's Kasadi settling in?" Rini asked, changing the subject.

" I think she's taking it well. She loves her school." Emma says.

" Yeah. She loves it here." Meggie said.

" She's made a better transition than I did." Emma added.

" That could be because she chose to come here and wasn't moved here against her own will." Hotaru said.

"Good point."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" Hey Kas?" Beth called up the stairs.

" Yes?" Kasadi ran down and leaned on the railing.

" Um...I hate to ask this of you, but do you think that you could run to the grocery store for me. Josh came over with some friends and wiped out the bread, milk, eggs, and all that joyous stuff."

"Doesn't he have his own refrigerator to raid with his friends?"

"My thoughts exactly." Beth laughed handing her a list. "Sorry. But I have a lecture in 20 minutes I have to be at and Meggie and Emma are at Rei Hino's house. They'll be back around dinner time."

" Okay." Kasadi said. She looked at the list. "Easy enough...but what the flip is Pleasent Mood?"

" A herbal pill that helps me keep my sanity." Beth said. " I do have three teenage girls living under one roof now."

"Are you on marijuana or something?"

" Kasadi...herbals medication does not always lead to illegal drugs." Beth rolled her eyes.

"Oh..."

" So, grocery shopping?"

"Yeah." Kasadi said grabbing her sweatshirt off the coat rack.

"Here's some money." Kasadi looked at the bills in her hand. Oh the confusion of Japanese currency. She had no idea how she was supposed to buy things if she couldn't understand the currency. Oh how the money mocked her.

" Don't worry. I made sure there is enough for everything on the list including tax." Beth said. " There's over 2,000 yen there."

" 2,000 YEN!? Jeez. That's a lot of money!" Kasadi exclaimed. " Everything must be so expensive!"

"Kasadi...that's the equivalent of about 20 American dollars." Beth sweat dropped anime style as Kasadi looked at the money again.

" Oh..." Kasadi said. Oh yes. The yen mocked her shamelessly.

"If you don't want to, I'll do it." Beth offered. But Kasadi looked up with a expression that could only be described as determination.

" No." She said. " The yen will mock me no longer!" She punched the air before running out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" You're boyfriend is weird." Emma laughed after Kyö walked into his house after the meaning.

"Still on trial." Meggie corrected.

" Sorry." Emma rolled her eyes.

" But yes. He is weird." Meggie agreed. " Your boyfriend is kinda weird..."

" No he isn't..." Emma said. " Well...he can be when he wants to be, but Sam is not as weird as Kyö. Kyö is the King of weird."

" Well, your boyfriend did get drunk at a bachelor party."

"Which was Amara's fault for spiking the soda." Emma said. " He isn't going to a bachelor part until he's legal."

"So, you'll let him get drunk when he's legal?"

" Not really. But at least he can't get arrested for it."

"Unless he drives."

" Whenever I know he will be drinking, the keys will be hidden. Very, very well."

" Good luck." Meggie said.

" Thank you." Emma laughed as they turned on their street.

As they walked down the street, a blur of color ran by screaming " THE YEN WILL MOCK ME NO LONGER!" Meggie and Emma looked behind them and distinctly saw a maroon alice band fly off the runners head and onto the concrete sidewalk. Emma picked it up and rose an eyebrow.

"Was that Kasadi?" Meggie asked.

" Probably." Emma said showing Meggie the head band. Meggie and Emma burst out laughing as they continued to finish their journey to the Hanzo residence.

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"Hmm..." Kasadi crossed her arms as she tried to decide what brand of Macaroni and Cheese she should buy, since her aunt failed to specify. The store brand was cheaper, but the Kraft was of better quality. But then there was the Velveeta which was creamier. And then there was the whole wheat pasta with low sodium cheese sauce, that would be healthier and better for her uncle.Oh the choices. She finally chose the cheaper stuff just in case she didn't have enough money to cover it.

Kasadi was amazed by all the brands of food that she had never, ever heard about. Sure there were some brands that they had in America. But those were only the big companies that were all over the world. Kasadi was just about to turn to get into the cashier line when something shiny caught her eye.

"Shiiiiiinnnnnnyyyyy" She stared at the spoons. She found her self at the Pots and Pans part of the aisle. Shiny always got the best of her.

"LOOK OUT!" Someone yelled. Kasadi looked at the direction of the voice and saw the shopping cart too late.

_Crash_

"Owwwwwwww" Kasadi said as she landed on her butt. Right on the tail bone.

"Are you okay?" Kasadi looked up and saw a guy about her age looking down at her with a concerned look on his face. She took his outstretched hand and got to her feet.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Kasadi rubbed her back.

"I'm so sorry. I bumped the cart and it went zooming down the aisle. I didn't notice until it was too late." he said.

"No problem. No permanent damage done." Kasadi smiled. "But that cart was really speeding there. I don't know how it would have gone that fast."

"Me neither." He said. "I'm Hiro Kamasuni."

"Kasadi Mitrow." Kasadi replied.

"Nice to meet you." Hiro smiled. Kasadi looked at him closely. He had jet black hair, and greyish eyes. He was pretty tall. Not as tall as Kyö, but pretty tall. "So where do you go to school?"

"Tokyo Academy." Kasadi said. "I transferred in a few days ago. I'm living with my cousins."

"Cool. I almost got into Tokyo Academy...I didn't get accepted because I've gotten in a little trouble in the past few years."

"Nothing illegal I hope." Kasadi said with a smile as they started moving down the aisle.

"Nope. Just enough trouble to keep me out of the most prestigious school in the city." Hiro explained.

"I see. So what school _do_ you go to?" Kasadi asked.

"Tokyo Central. Only school that would let me in because my grandfather is the principal. I'm a nice guy, at least I think so. It's just, people like to pick fights with me. And you know what they say. It's always the second one who throws a punch that gets caught."

"Yeah. I heard that one." Kasadi said. "My cousin goes to Central. And my best friend. And their boyfriends. Or well...I'm not exactly sure what Kyo is. But, I don't think he's a boyfriend...as of yet."

"Who are they?"

"Um, Emma Hanzo, Meggie Izuma, Sam Tsukino and Kyö Wakimaya." Kasadi replied.

"I know Sam. I see him with his girlfriend all the time."

"That's Emma. And yeah. Some think they were surgically attached at the hip these days." Kasadi laughed.

"I know Kyö. Meggie hates his guts, doesn't she."

"Yeah...they have an interesting relationship..." Kasadi said. "But I predict that will change, after what I heard happened on opening night."

"Ah...Right...the 'stage' kiss." Hiro said as they came up to the check out lines. They continued to talk as each of them put their groceries through.

"So why are you doing the shopping?" Kasadi asked.

"My grandparents are at this banquet for the school. They asked me to pick up some groceries."

"You don't live with your parents?" Kasadi asked as Hiro paid for his groceries.

"Nah. My only family is Jii-san and Oba-san." Hiro said.

"I see." Kasadi looked down.

"Hey don't worry about it. I love my grandparents. I'm happy there." They exited the store and noticed they were each going separate ways.

"I got to get this stuff to my aunt." Kasadi said. "I go to the Drama club at Tokyo Central. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Yeah." Hiro said. " Maybe. I usually stay after with my grandfather."

"Okay. See you." Kasadi waved as she walked backwards. Hiro waved and they started walking in separate directions. Kasadi, for some reason was smiling a wide grin as she walked back to her Aunt and Uncle's house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_2:00 am _

Once Kasadi returned, Emma and Meggie had been home too. Kasadi blushed when Emma returned the alice band and did a rather accurate impression of her running down the street "THE YEN WILL MOCK ME NO LONGER!" bit. It was quite funny.

Kasadi woke when she felt something get on her bed. She looked over her shoulder and saw Meggie's cat staring at her. She found that cat to be very weird. She saw Luna all the time. But Gabriella was more to herself. Guess you couldn't expect much more from a cat. Cats are very independent creatures.

"Gabriella?" Kasadi asked sleepily. Not really expecting an answer. It was a cat after all.

The cat walked up to her face and stared into her eyes. Kasadi blinked. Cats were also known to get in your face every once in a while.

" You are her." Gabriella said. " The last one." Kasadi's eyes were big as saucers.

"What?"

" You are the one in the prophecy. The one we need." Gabriella said. Kasadi sat up in a flash and scooted up against her headboard.

"The cat...is...talking." Kasadi said slowly, starting to think that there was a possibility that she was still asleep.

"Yes. Yes I am." Gabriella said. "And before you say it. No you aren't crazy. Xena said the same thing. But the both of you are quite sane."

"Xena? As in..._Sailor_ Xena?" Kasadi asked.

"Yes." Gabriella said. "I am the magical guardian of Sailor Xena." Kasadi's jaw dropped.

"Sailor Xena? You know her? What's she like?" Kasadi asked.

"I think the two of you would get along quite well."

"So you also know Sailor Star and Tuxedo Mask Jr. and the rest of the senshi."

"Yes. In a way. I usually look after Xena, Star and the Wacko. The others have their own guardians." Gabriella said. After an audible "Oh" from Kasadi. The confusion once again crossed her features.

" Wait...Why are you here? Why are you living with Meggie?..." Gabriella's eyes glowed in the dark as she looked up. Kasadi got another weird vibe from the cat.

"I am here to reveal your destiny. You are part of a prophecy that has been around for thousands of years. You are Sailor Phoenix, the last, and a key member of the Lost Senshi."

"..._What?_" Kasadi asked in disbelief.

"You are Sailor Phoenix, Senshi of Passion, Guardian of Freedom."

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	7. Sailor Phoenix

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 6

_What?_

"You are Sailor Phoenix, Senshi of Passion, Guardian of Freedom." Gabriella said.

"..._What?_"

"I know you heard me."Gabriella replied sourly. She hated this part. First, the explaining, then the yelling, and then the denial, and THEN they finally get it. And Gabby knew it would be the same way with this one.

"COOL!" Kasadi yelled. Gabby nearly fell over from the sudden loudness. Also out of surprise that she wasn't getting kicked out a window or something being called a liar.

"SHHH!" Gabby shushed. " It's still 2 in the morning!!!"

"Oh right." Kasadi remembered and then whispered "Cool!" Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Since you are taking this all so well, I might as well cut to the chase." Gabriella said. "You are part of the Lost Senshi. You, Sailor Star, Sailor Xena, and Tuxedo Mask Jr. are the only known scouts that are part of this branch of senshi. There could be more of you, but we are unsure."

"What makes us the 'Lost' Senshi?" Kasadi asked.

"You are the lost Senshi because while the rest of the Senshi has been reincarnated ever thousand years or so, you and the others part of this senshi, haven't been spotted in millions of years. I only just realized the Lost Senshi was back when Sailor Xena met up with her incarnation, the goddess Xena." Gabriella paused. "We know for sure, Sailor Xena's soul has been around the longest, considering that Xena-the goddess not the scout-along with her sister Gaia and her brother Diamond were the one of the first beings on this planet." And with that Gabriella went into a lengthy explanation about Sailor Xena's fight against Prince Diamond, which had occured only a few months earlier.

"What about the others?" Kasadi asked.

"From what I understand, Sailor Star's soul was created from light, or light energy by Xena right before she died. Along with sending the first form of Princess Serenity's soul to the future, she sent Star's soul a thousand years farther to this time period in order for it to kill Prince Diamond for good." Gabriella said. "Star and Xena don't realize this part of the story. All they know is that the goddess Xena sent Diamond's bride to be reincarnated into Princess Serenity, and to her one true love to punish him for his evil. They have no idea about Sailor Star's soul."

"And Tuxedo Mask Jr.?" Kasadi asked.

"Ah. The wacko. Yes, him." Gabriella mumbled. "I'm still trying to research him. All I've been able to gather is that his soul has been around about two or three thousand years before the attack on the Moon one thousand years ago."

"And me?"

"Well..."Gabriella thought for a moment. "That story...needs to wait."

"What!?"

"It's nearly 3:30, and if I'm not mistaken, you have school tomorrow."

"Fudge School. I want to know."

"Not tonight." Gabriella said in a tone that clearly said 'no more arguing.' "All I have to do is tell you this. I will tell you when you go to your first battle. And when you go, you will wear a full faced mask."

"Why?"

"Because, I've tried going with just the masks that cover the eyes, and Xena and Jr have been recognized. It's crucial that it doesn't happen to you until the right time."

"Why?"

"That will be part of the story later." Gabriella replied getting up. "And before I go. On your desk, you'll find a necklace. That's your transformation item. Keep it with you at all times. You won't transform until your first battle, but still have it incase of emergencies. All you have to say is 'Phoenix Fire Transformation.' and you'll transform."

"One problem." Kasadi said.

"What?"

"Violence is against my nature...I believe in working out problems with words. Not fists." Kasadi said solemnly.

"You try your 'words and no fists' routine in battle, and you'll be dead in a week." Gabriella told her. Kasadi gulped. "And anyway. The fighting part is in your soul. Your soul knows what to do, and will tell your body how to do it. Your just the solid part of the process for the actions to be carried out."

"I see."

"Now, go to sleep. You have school tomorrow." Gabriella then slipped out of the room. Kasadi got up for a moment and walked to her desk. As Gabriella told her, there was a necklace. It was a black chain with a ruby red tear drop gem on it. It was quite beautiful, and looked very expensive.

Finally, Kasadi grew tired and went back to bed. Not really sure how to react now about what she had learned that night. She was just going to have to wait and see what would happen.

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	8. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 7

_Ring Ring_

Meggie groaned as she turned on her side.

_Ring Ring_

She opened one eye and closed it again.

_Ring Ring_

"Dammit." Meggie sat up and turned on her light. She reached over to her bed stand and picked up her cell phone. She looked at the caller ID and growled. "Kyö, I think I may kill you." Meggie said into the phone.

" Hey hey hey I'm sorry.." Kyö said. " Don't blame me."

" What is it? It's..."Meggie looked at her clock on the wall. " _three AM!?_ Are you completely out of your mind? I am seriously going to kill you!"

"Meg," Kyö said stopping her little rampage. "Darien just called. A robbery or something about a block away from Hino Shrine. Darien didn't give me all the details. Just to be at Rei's as soon as possible, transformed."

What happened is, when something happened that needed the senshi, they had a phone chain. Whoever found out about it, called two people. And then after that, the next people told two other people until they got everyone. Darien would tell Serena (because they lived together) and Kyö. Serena would call Rei and Rini. Kyö would call Meggie and Ami. Ami would tell Amara and Lita. Lita would call Mina and Trista. Amara would tell Michelle (because they were married, duh) and Emma. Trista would tell Hotaru, and Emma would tell Meggie just in case Kyö was being dumb, and didn't call her (as if he would pass up the chance to call Meggie, psha). Meggie would tell Emma, just in case Amara was dumb and forgot to call. Both happened fairly often when it was the middle of the night like this because no one would be quite awake. If Meggie or Emma found out about something, they'd call Serena and Darien so that they would start that chain. (A.N: I just wrote this to kinda give an idea on how things would go down in future chapters. So bare with me.)

"Okay. I'll see you there." Meggie said before hanging up the phone. She jumped out of bed and grabbed a pair of jeans, replacing her pajama bottoms with them. She grabbed a sweatshirt to put over her tank top and grabbed her necklace. She was putting on her shoes when there was a soft knock on balcony door.

"Meggie, you awake?" Emma's voice whispered. They balcony that connected the two bedrooms, which made easy middle of the night getaways for missions.

"Yeah. Come in." Meggie said. Emma opened the doors, also dressed.

"Amara called me. Ready?"

"Yeah." Meggie said. The two jumped off of the balcony with graceful leaps and jumped the fence, taking off running towards the Hino shrine, transforming in the mean time.

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The senshi was waiting for them when they got there. Everyone was transformed and ready to fight. It was pouring rain when they got there, but no one really cared.

"We spoke too soon when we said that this was a good time for a break, didn't we?" Mini Moon yawned.

"Yep." Mars put her hands on her hips. " I couldn't sleep so I was meditating in the shrine. When I came out, this guy dressed in black with a cape and a silver mask was running across the court yard into the woods. I would have thought it would be a police thing if it weren't for the guy's out fit and that he was giving off a aura that didn't settle well with me. I heard Sirens at the small jewelry shop at the bottom of the entrance stairs.So I called you guys."

"Ah..." Moon said. " Do you know where he went?"

"By the looks of it, the old abandoned shrine in the woods. In feudal Japan, travelers would stop there for the night so that the spirits of the forest would protect them while they slept." Mars explained. "There is a path that leads there. For tourists who come to any of the festivals here. He didn't use it, but the only thing out there is that shrine."

"Okay, Ami, how close do you think it is?" Moon asked. Mercury had her mini-computer there.

"I've got a signal about...half a mile going west. I'm pretty sure it's the aura that Rei was talking about."

"He must be waiting for us." Xena said. "This could be a trap. He could be waiting to take us down."

"Could it be Akusin?" Tuxedo Mask Jr. asked.

"Not the same aura." Mars said shaking her head. " Definitely not Akusin."

"Okay guys. We don't have much time. Let's go." Moon said. Everyone nodded and took off running into the woods. They made good time, and as Xena predicted, the guy was waiting there, standing on the roof of the shrine.

" Who are you!?" Moon yelled her fighting stance.

"Why does it matter?" he yelled back. His voice was slightly muffled by the mask and the pouring rain.

"Why are you here!?"

"Hiding from the police." he said. "And waiting for you."

"Are you working for someone?"

"Kinda."

"It's a yes or no question!" Tuxedo Mask yelled.

"Okay, fine. Yes."

"What's your motive?" Venus asked.

"What's with the interrogation? I only broke the window at the jewelry store to get your attention." he said.

"Who are you working for!?" Star asked.

"Not sure." The masked man jumped off of the shrine. He was wearing a hooded cape and a mask that looked as if it was made out of pure silver.

"I'm asking you again, what is your motive?" Venus asked dangerously. Xena had her spear pointed at him, and Star had her staff pointed at him.

" Wouldn't you like to know." he said. It was obvious that he was smiling under the mask.

" Okay, this guys is pissing me off here." Uranus said taking a punch at him. The masked man blocked it and punched Uranus in the stomach, sending her flying. After that, everyone began to attack him. Some using their martial arts training, others using their powers.

"Star Sphere!" Star yelled. The giant orb of light shot at the masked man as he pulled up his cape up. The light bounced off and hit Star square in the chest, sending her flying, taking Saturn and Neptune with her.

"It bounced off..."Star wheezed as she tried to get to her feet.

"Emma, are you okay?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah...just knocked the wind out of me..." Star said, as she caught her breath again.

"This guy doesn't have any magical powers, except, it seems he can block all of our attacks." Saturn said. "He's mainly martial arts, and who ever he works for, knows our moves."

"Akusin?" Star asked getting on her feet again.

"Akusin was a lacky. He isn't devious villain material." Saturn said. Neptune nodded in agreement.

"Okay then." Star said. "No powers."

"We literally kick this guy's ass." Neptune said.

" Right." Saturn said and the three jumped in and started fighting along with the others again. Everyone was throwing some kind of move on him, that should have knocked the guy out, but he was blocking every single blow.

"You are making it really hard for us to believe you are human!" Moon yelled.

"Sorry about that."

Uranus growled. "Stop mocking us!" she yelled.

"Mocking? I'm sorry. I'll try to stop."

"NAME!?" Xena screamed

"Fine Fine." He yelled. " They call me Silver Shadow."

" WHAT?!" Jr. yelled, waving his arms. Everyone- including the "Silver Shadow"- just kinda stopped what they were doing to stare at him. "Okay, how come when _I_ suggested it for _myself, you_," he pointed accusingly at Xena. "said it was _stupid_, and when _he _says it, it sounds all..._right_!" Jr. Half yelled and half whined as he whacked Silver Shadow over the head with his cane.

"Because he's a villain, Kyo, and he's kinda supposed to be stupid!" retorted Xena, as everyone resumed fighting.

"Ow." Silver Shadow said. " You hit me."

"GOOD!" everyone yelled.

Everyone was beginning to get warn out. Even The Silver Shadow. The senshi surrounded the exhausted Silver Shadow. "What are you going after?"

"Okay." Silver Shadow said. "I might as well tell you. My boss didn't tell me not to."

Silver Shadow looked over to Star who was glaring at him. "You've caused a lot of trouble with my bosses. Haven't you." He turned his gaze to Xena. "And you escaped death and imprisonment. Impressive." Shadow looked at Jr. " And you just kept getting in the way."

"Point please." Mini moon put her hands on her hips.

"Okay. I'm going to give you a riddle. _Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, She will die, when she does what she must_." Shadow recited. "Figure that out, and maybe you'll be able to stop me." And at that, The Silver Shadow took off. He was no where to be seen.

" A riddle?" Jupiter yelled into the air. " You're kidding me!"

" He's after us again..." Star told Xena. "Whoever was after us before, is still around. Your parents were working for someone else."

"Imagine that." Xena sighed. " Don't worry about it Em."

"Okay guys. Let's go home." Serena said, now in her normal form.

And so the defenders of Tokyo trudged home, eager to get back to bed.

The Silver Shadow watched them go from the high branches of a nearby tree. He was still as stone, not blinking, barely breathing, as he'd been trained to do. He was barely human. He felt no emotion: not fear, or remorse, or joy. Nothing. He knew nothing of the past, or the future. He recognized only the faces he had been told to. He was the perfect warrior, styled after each member of the young, fragile New Senshi. He had Mini Moon's knowledge, Star's energy, Jr's talent in combat, and Xena's raw power.

"YOU LET THEM GO."

The Silver Shadow turned, and looked down. standing about ten yards from the tree, looking up at him, was the minion assigned to him. His keeper.

"I'm letting _them_ draw her out." he replied shortly.

"Get down here."

Silver Shadow stood, balancing easily on the branch, then he jumped, and flipped, landing gracefully in front of his comrade. He stood up, brushing bits of bark from his sleeves.

He looked up at his keeper, who was surveying him skeptically. "What?"

"Show off." he turned on his heel and started walking away.

Silver Shadow, laughing, followed. "Mordae, why are you here?" he asked.

"To watch you; to train you." Mordae, at least thirty years older than the Silver Shadow himself, had the air of a rogue knight of the old stories of King Arthur. "You're young and impulsive. You're going to ruin everything."

"I don't need more training."

"You're going to hurt yourself, and endanger everything I have worked for for more than a thousand years!"

"Maybe that's long enough."

Mordae stopped walking and stared at the young man. "What? Listen here, you young ingrate." he hissed. "I've done it all, and seen much more than that. I know what it is like to be made to follow an order against my will, and I have literally sold my soul to be given the chance to make those people who'd once commanded me pay." He glared at him.

"That was a long time ago, Mordae." said Silver Shadow.

"But this is what it all comes down to. This is what I have slaved for. Bled for. I have died for it. You will not mess this up."

"I'd be more worried about myself, friend, if I were you." Silver Shadow began walking again.

"Is that meant to scare me?"

"Depends. I just think that the Master values my help more than yours now."

"And why is that?" Mordae demanded.

"Because when this is over," Silver Shadow said, angry and annoyed, stopping and turning to face Mordae. "you will be dead. And I will live." A slight breeze englufed them for a moment as Mordae stared at him. "Good night." said Silver Shadow, turning and dissapearing.


	9. Another Battle with the Silver Shadow

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 8

_The Next Day_

_Saturday_

"So, lemme get this straight..." Kyö said. " The same person who was after Emma two years ago, was after Emma _and_ Meggie last year. And now is after all of us?" Rini, Meggie, Emma and Kyö were all walking down the street discussing the battle the previous night.

"Pretty much." Rini said.

"It also means that The Izumas were working for someone higher up. Diamond could have been...third or fourth in command for all we know." Emma said.

" So true." Rini said. " Guys...This Silver Shadow guy is just another pawn in who ever is running this show's scheme."

"I'm so sick of this." Meggie whined. " I thought I was done with whatever my parents had up their sleeves."

"But why us? Why not the rest of the senshi?" Emma asked.

" I don't know..." Rini said. " You were in the first place, because of Hoshiko. But Monoka was working for Meggie's mum and dad before Diamond. When Monoka kicked the bucket, Diamond took her place. Akusin being the equivalent to Monoka's 'Little Green Men'"."Rini explained. " Now whoever this guy is, he might be taking Akusin's place. Permanently, or temporarily. Depending on where Akusin is.."

" What about that Riddle?" Kyö asked.

"It means, that they are after one other person..." Rini said.

" Wow...this makes my head hurt..." Emma rubbed her temples.

" Yeah." Meggie said.

" We'll do this. We always make it." Rini said.

"Just don't tell Sam. He doesn't need to worry about me any more than he already does. Just say that there is a victim-to-be out there. I have nothing else to do with it." Emma said.

"Deal." Rini said. Meggie and Kyö nodded in agreement.

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"So, I heard Rini sneaking into her bedroom window last night." Sam said as he and Emma sat in the living room watching TV. Meggie and Kasadi were out doing who know's what.

" Oh yeah?" Emma asked.

"Yeah." Sam answered. " First battle in a long time, huh?"

"Yep." Emma replied.

"New bad guy?"

" Yes sir."

" And..."

"And what?" Emma looked at him.

" What does he want?"

" He's after someone. We don't know who. He only gave us a riddle." Emma said. " _Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, She will die, when she does what she must_."

" That's a little depressing..." Sam said.

"A little? Dear, some poor girl out there is being hunted down, and doesn't even know it." Emma said. " That isn't depressing, that's terrifying."

"As long as your safe." Sam said wrapping an arm around her neck and kissing her forehead. A pang of guilt hit Emma's heart, but she forced herself to ignore it.

Just as that happened, Emma's cell phone rang. " It's Amara." Emma flipped her phone open. " Allo."

"Hey, duty calls..."

"Okay. I'll call Meggie." Emma said. " Where?"

" Central Square."

"Goody." Emma said. "See you there." She hung up the phone. " Dearie, I hate to cut this short, buuuuuttt..."

"Okay okay." Sam said.

"Listen. I need a favor." Emma said.

"Yes?"

" I'm going to call Meggie, she's with Kasadi. Wherever they are, I need you to pick up Kasadi and bring her home." Emma said.

"Why me?"

"Because, Kyo is part of the Senshi, and you are the only other one I know who has their driver's license and can get there fast enough without me calling all over town for another ride for her." Emma said dialing her phone.

" Meggie, where are you?"

" Tenth street. Why?"

" Okay. Get to central square Asap. Sam will pick up Kasadi where ever you are." Emma said.

"Okay. See ya." Meggie said before hanging up.

"Sam, I'm going to run. Kasadi will be on tenth street." Emma said.

"Okay." Sam said before pulling her into a fierce Hug. " Be careful."

Emma smiled and kissed him. " Always." She kissed him again. " I love you."

"Love you too." And with that, they went separate ways.

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Sailor Star and Sailor Xena arrived at central square where the new villain The Silver Shadow was reaking havoc.

"This guy is psycho." Star said as they watched him just taking out mail boxes and trash cans. Not robbing or anythign. Just...vandalism.

"Not our ordinary villian is he?" Xena asked. They saw most of the senshi there trying to talk to him.

"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!" Venus called out. So much for trying to talk, ne?. A chain shot out of her fingers and she tried to wrap it around his legs. Silver Shadow just jumped out of the way.

"The guy is graceful, I'll give him that." Star said summoning her staff. " We'll hit him from behind, I'll use Star Sphere, you tell Venus to do the chain again and if you have to, pin him with the spear. But don't kill him..."

"Yet?"Xena asked hopefully.

"DON'T kill him. Got it?" Star smirked at her spear-happy friend.

"Fine."Xena said leaping on top of a building heading over to the general area of Venus. Star powered up and aimed her staff.

Xena gave her a thumbs up, meaning that she got the message to Venus and Star took fire.

"Star sphere!" She whispered forcefully, so that Shadow wouldn't hear it. A giant orb of light went flying at Shadow. But, he jumped out of the way at the last second.

"OH! Damn it all!" Star cursed to herself. She waved over to Xena for plan B. Xena hurled her tall spear at Shadow and it was so close to hitting the sleeve and pinning him to the wall.

"NICE SHOT!" Shadow yelled with his muffled voice from behind the mask. " You almost had me!"

"I really hate this guy." Star said as she reached where Xena was.

"Me too."

"HEY JERK!" Xena yelled down. Shadow looked up.

"THEY CALL ME THE SILVER SHADOW!"

"We established that you idiot!" Star yelled jumping down, Xena right behind her.

"About the riddle." Uranus came out from her hiding spot.

"What? Can't figure it out?" Shadow asked.

"Who is the other person!?" Mini Moon yelled coming in from and an alley. The entire senshi came out from hiding now.

" Don't worry! You'll find her out soon!" Shadow said.

" You are really annoying." Saturn glared.

"Thank you. I try." Shadow laughed.

" You know what? You may have the upper hand now, but once we find the other target, the tables will turn, and I'm going to enjoy it." Moon said.

"I know you will." Shadow said. "But, right now, bad guys are winning! And if you wouldn't mind, I have busy schedule and it's time for me to go!" Shadow said beginning to leap in the air.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Xena took a feather out of her hair and flew up into the sky trying to follow him. She hurled her spear at him, but it only nicked his arm. Shadow threw back a blade of some sort and it caused the feather to turn to its normal size and Xena fell to the ground with a thud. "DAMMIT!!!!" Xena cursed. " How does he get so fast!?"

"He's a villain." Moon said helping her up. "He's not supposed to be cooperative you know."

"Cheese and rice." Xena frowned. The senshi de-transformed and they separated to go home, kicking themselves for letting The Silver Shadow get away again.

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"You let them go. Again."

"I have a plan."

Mordae held out his hand. "Give me the mask."

Silver Shadow jumped back. "What?! No!"

"It is my mask- it was meant for me! You are not worthy of it! Give it to me; they'll be dead by dawn."

Silver Shadow sent Mordae flying backward with but a thougt. "**I** am the Silver Shadow now." You are little more than dead weight."

"Now now," said a voice in the shadows. "Mordae is many years your senior, Silver Shadow. You must respect him. For now."

"And what happens after now?" asked the Shadow.

The villain smiled. "Don't ruin the surprise."


	10. Ham and Treason

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 9

"You know what?..." Kyo said as Darien drove him home after The Silver Shadow took off.

"Yeah, what's that?" Darien asked. Serena was in the back seat sound asleep with Rini, so he had no one else to talk to other than the fruitcake.

" I still can't get over how last year, when we were trying to figure out a better name than Tuxedo Mask Jr...I could have used..."

Kyo paused dramtically. " The Silver Shadow!"

"What?"

"I could have been The Silver Shadow!" Kyo now began to whine. " IT FITS!"

"If you say so..." Darien chuckled.

" BUT I DO SAY SO!!!!" Kyo whined. " I could have been The Silver Shadow! I have a sliver mask!"

"Your mask is black.." Darien said.

"BUT I HAVE A SILVER MASK!!!!!!" Kyo cried. "And it's sparkly and shimmery, and prettyful!!!"

"Kyo, using words like "Prettyful" will not help Meggie decide to make you her boyfriend." Darien said.

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"

"What are you guys yelling about?..." Serena groaned from the back seat.

"See what you did Kyo!" Darien growled. " Sorry Hun. Kyo's angry that we isn't creative like the Silver Shadow is."

"What?" Serena asked.

"Kyo wants the Silver Shadow's name." Darien said. " He even has a "prettyful" silver mask."

"Hoo boy...Kyo...are you sure you are a guy?" Serena asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. New question..."

"shoot." Kyo said.

"Are you sure that you're straight?"

"...I resent that."

"Ha. Knew it."

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_The Next Day_

It was Sunday. And Sunday meant one thing in the Hanzo house hold. Church. And with Kasadi living with them...it also caused a bit of a problem. While the Hanzo family was Catholic, Kasadi was Baptist. Her father converted from Catholicism when he married Kasadi's mother. This was a problem because the two different churches were miles and miles away from Tokyo, in two different directions.

So, they realized this during this particular Sunday morning and noticed the dilemma. Luckily, Mina came over to pick up a few things that Josh left behind when he moved out and offered to drive Kasadi to the church. So, that predicament was easily solved. (Mina had also wanted to his a new fashion boutique that opened up near the church. What better way to spend an hour on Sunday?)

Another thing that Sunday meant, to the Hanzo children at least, was Sunday School. Josh rejoiced when he was finally graduated from the lectures and the retreats and the other little things. But Emma was still stuck with it.

So, there they were, Emma and Meggie, in the 10th grade CCD class, playing Bible trivia.

I know what you're thinking. "I thought Meggie left the church?" You're right. She did. But she goes, just purely out of the routine that she followed for most of her life. That, and the Hanzo weren't comfortable with leaving her home by herself for about 3 hours when they were close to 50 miles away.

Meggie only protested a little. Just to show that she was in fact a living, breathing, teenaged girl and that arguing was in her blood.

So, once again. Emma and Meggie were sitting in their small 10th grade CCD class, playing bible trivia. They were practicing for a challenge against the 9th grade class. It was the whole class against Emma and Meggie. And Emma and Meggie were winning...Meggie was answering most of the questions because she was faster. Emma knew the answers...just wasn't fast enough to get them from her brain, to

her mouth.

"Okay...this question will end the game. Whichever team gets this one, will win." Mr. Natama said holding up a card. "Who was Jacob's oldest son?"

The class stared at the teacher...they didn't know. Not even Meggie could remember this one.

"Oh come on guys." Mr. Natama said. "I'll give you a hint...It's the same name as a sandwhich."

Emma didn't even think as the answer just flew right out of her mouth. " HAM!!!"

Everyone stared at Emma as she felt her face heat up and turn red. " That's not it..."Emma smacked herself in the head.

"EMMAAAAAAA" Meggie laughed so hard.

"It was the first thing that came to my head! I love ham sandwiches!!!" Emma cried. She was humiliated now.

"Anyone else?" Mr.Natama asked, trying not to laugh. "Anyone." Everyone was too busy roaring with laughter.

"Ruben..." a girl named Yoko said. Emma groaned in defeat.

"And the answer is indeed, Ruben. Yoko's team wins!"

"I'm so stupid!"

"And I'm never letting you live this one down!" Meggie wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. Not caring that she just lost a competition. Emma's sudden spark of blonde was worth it.

"Thaaaaaaaaanks." Emma said hiding her face in her hands. The class couldn't stop laughing, so Mr. Natama dismissed class a little early for once. Emma couldn't get out fast enough.

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"Okay. This Silver Shadow guy" Serena started. "What are we going to do about him?"

"First, find out who the other girl is." Meggie said. "We need to protect the ones who are in danger first. Then we can figure out who _he_ is."

"Meg's right." Rei said. "Before we can stop him, we have to get our hands on who he wants."

"So, we're all in agreement that we need to find that other target.." Amara asked. Everyone nodded. It was the weekly Senshi meeting. So, that of course meant everyone was huddled into Rei's living room, eating snacks and discussing whatever was going on that week. Senshi related or not.

"Okay, new assignments..." Trista sat up. "I say that we all look out for _anything_ suspicious."

"That's a given..."Emma said.

"Yeah." Rini said. " How about, Me, Emma, Meggie and Kyo check the highschool. Hotaru checks her highschool, The Inners do the University, Amara and Michelle check the working environment and Trista checks people who are older, and aren't working. So we can basically hit everyone."

"Except Elementary schools...and Hospitals..." Emma said.

"I can do the hospitals." Ami said.

" So that leaves Elementary Schools." Michelle said. "Smaller children are more at risk...they can't protect themselves."

" I have a secretary job interview next Thursday as a teachers Aide. Extra cash flow until I get my degree." Serena said. " If I get the job, I'll be at the school during the day, and I have classes of my own during the evening hours."

"Stretching yourself kinda thin, aren't Serena?" Mina asked.

"Yeah, but we need down payments for wedding plans..." Serena said. "And Darien sure as hell isn't taking up _another _job. He still has a thesis to finish so he can get his Masters Degree. He needs to worry about that."

" Okay. Serena, you get that job." Rei said. "Everyone else, stay focused on your post. If anything strange happens, we'll investigate. Got it?"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered. They all had a mission to keep themselves busy non-stop now.

"Next order of business is..." Serena glanced at her little tablet on which she'd written the concerns to bring up at the meeting. "Ah, yes. Meggie," she turned the attention towards Meggie. "you're going to be taking up training sessions with Rei on the weekends."

"What?" Meggie was confused. "Why? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Serena assured her. "It's just that- Rei, you explain it better."

"Okay," Rei turned to Meggie. "The rest of us Scouts have been reincarnated hundreds of times throughout our existence. We've each had a thousand lifetimes to filter out the dangerous, dark power that come with our good powers."

"Oh come on. How many 'dangerous, dark powers' could-" Meggie glanced around the room for a good example. "could _Ami _have?"

"Ever wondered why there were several evenly-spaced ice ages?" asked Ami.

"Exactly," Rei continued. "But now, we don't pose a threat to innocents, or ourselves. You, however, are channeling the raw, unfiltered power of Xena."

"Wha?"

"You're the first reincarnation of Xena. You can't control your powers. Remember what happened last May? I'm still surprised Xena's raw essence in your body didn't kill you."

"Okay okay. So I'll start filtering out the bad stuff, right?"

"That takes centuries. The most you'll be able to do is just get it under control."

"Fine."

"Saturday, nine am, don't be late."

"I won't."

"Okay, moving on," Serena ticked off the issue with a pencil and looked for the next concern. "Speaking of last May, we need to come to a decision about Akusin."

"I still say we should go look for him." said Meggie.

"He's gotta be dead." put in Rini. "No way he could have made it far with the beating we gave him."

"Hear hear." said Emma. "We kicked his aaaaass."

"Let's vote- again." said Michelle. "And if it's anoter tie, then we'll just dismiss it."

"Okay. He's alive?" Serena counted the hands that were up. "And he's dead?" She saw more hands go up than before. "And good riddance." She tossed the notepad in her purse and got up. "Same time, next week." Everyone got up and started towards the door.

"I'm so glad the Akusin issue is out of the way now." said Emma. Seeing the look on Meggie's face, she added "I know that you wanted revenge for...everything, but at least he's dead, right? Think of it this way: if you hadn't kicked his butt from hell to Houston, then he'd still be alive."

Meggie smiled. "True. True." They made their way over to the door, where the others were still crowded around, trying to figure out whose shoes were whose. "I hope he crawled in a _hole_ and died."

"Yeah." Kyo said, standing behind them. "I never liked that guy." They looked at with 'well, DUH.' written all over their faces. "Well, besides the fact that he was a villain, he had the hots for her!" He pointed at Meggie.

Everyone stopped and looked at Kyo.

"Kyo." Meggie said.

"What?"

"Shut up." everyone said at once.

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By the following week, Kasadi had settled into her new lifestyle very nicely. She could get to all her classes easily and without taking too many wrong turns, and Emma was always texting and calling her between every few classes, keeping her updated on what Kasadi had come to fondly address as "The Kyo Chronicles."

It was about that time of day when she was standing at her locker, trying to extract her history book, when her phone began ringing. Kasadi pulled it out of her bag and flipped it open, saying "Hey Em. What'd he do this time? And tell me she kicked him. I love it when she kicks him. It's hilarious."

"It's not that," Emma replied. She sounded out of breath, as if she was hurrying through the halls. Probably late for her next class. "Better."

"Better than her kicking him?"

"We talked about something at lunch today-"

"Define 'we.'"

"- Sam, Katsuro, Rini, and me- Meggie was hiding in the library, and Kyo was trying to track her down- so anyway, we were talking, and we came up with the perfect solution."

"I gotta hear this!" Kasadi finally retrieved her book and closed her locker, weighed down with not only the book, but a huge armload papers (she still had papers to fill out to officially confirm her transfer) She started weaving through the crowded hall, pressing the phone harder to her ear so as to hear it over the chatter. "So what are you going to do?"

"Weeeeell, there's this really cool guy in my French class-"

"Ooo, you're gonna get him to teach Kyo how to- er- not be a freak?"

"No- we're gonna fix Meggie up with him!"

"With Kyo? And that would suddenly work _why_?"

"Not Kyo- Koki. French class dude."

Kasadi stopped dead in her tracks. "_What?!_"

"Yeah, he's really nice and I think that they'll get along really well together, and-"

"But what about Meggie and _**Kyo**_?!" she demanded.

"Oh, psh!" Emma scoffed. "Come on Kas, that ship has **sunk**."

"Wha- but- I thought- they can't- we- but _whyyyyyyyyyy_?!" the warning bell sounded, and Kasadi came to her senses and picked up the pace a bit. "They've got to be together! They're like Lily and Brad! Angela and Shawn! BUFFY AND ANGEL! THEY'VE GOT TO BE TOGETHER!!"

"Kasadi, stop making a Titanic out of a tugboat."

"But-!!"

"Listen, Kas, I gotta go, I'm at my French Class right now, and I gotta talk to Koki. Okay, see you after school, bye!"

There was a click as Emma hung up, and Kasadi angrily turned her phone on silent and shoved it back in her bag. _Well, she really didn't seem interested in him...but that's what makes it such a funny pairing! What are the reviewers gonna say!? AH! Okay, okay, Kasadi, get your head on straight. This is for the best. They're complete opposites. They just don't- (ah, I hate myself!)- they just don't go together (I LIIIIE!!!) Oh, this just doesn't feel right! What's the word for it? What is it? Oh, I KNOW!_

Without thinking about it, without taking even a second to consider the consequences of it, Kasadi dropped everything she was holding, sending papers flying to both sides of the emptying hall, pointing to the sky as she screamed out her crime.

"TREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!"

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	11. Phoenix's first battle

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 10

Saturday afternoon, about a dozen cell phones rang at the same exact time, each with the same message. Another battle But this time, just when Kasadi saw Emma and Meggie rush off to "the movie theatre" Gabriella came down the stairs and announced that she was going to have to bolt herself, with her new necklace down to central Tokyo where there was a major attack on a children's playground at one of the Day Care centers. So, Kasadi had to drop what she was doing (which was eating her lunch)

Kasadi and Gabriella took off immediately. Gabby told her to short cut through a alley way to transform. When they emerged, Kasadi was Sailor Phoenix. Her uniform was much like the rest of the senshi's. It had a maroon collar and skirt, but her bow was maroon in one pleat, and black on the other two surrounding it. She had fingerless black gloves that reached up to her elbow and black leggings that were like shorts under her skirt. Her shoes were more like running sneakers. Not as fancy as the others.

"Your mask." Gabriella said.

"Oh right!" she said as she reached into the bookbag she brought with her. She pulled out a full faced mask with holes for the eyes and mouth. It was painted maroon, with the eyes lined in black glittery lashes.

"Now, you go out there, try to act as a bit of a distraction for whatever's out there so that the senshi can take it out. Throw out anything you think of. Okay?" Gabriella advised.

"Um...kay?" she replied nervously. She wasn't exactly looking forward to this. Violence was very much against her nature. Emma and Meggie were the more violent ones in the past.

"You'll be fine. This will come naturally. It's part of your soul." Gabriella said. "Now go." Kasadi stepped out into the clear. She saw the senshi fighting a tall man draped in black, wearing a mask that looked as if it were made of real silver and a hooded cloak. She looked around, looking for a way to enter. She saw a fire escape on one of the apartment buildings, directly above her. She pulled down the ladder and began climbing. She reached the top and could watch the battle from a birds eye few.

Sailor Star and Xena were both trying to corner the hooded man as Mini Moon and Tuxedo Mask Jr. were coming from behind. She didn't know how to enter this. They seemed to have it mostly under control. That was until she saw all four of them get blown back by some force field that was set up.

_What do I do? What do I do?_ She panicked._Gabby said my soul would know what to do..._ She put her hands over her necklace and basically pleaded with herself begging for some sort of clue. _That's it!_ she thought as an idea sprang into her mind. She put her foot on the railing of the fire escape, preparing to pull herself up and jump down to help the senshi, when the masked dude looked up and threw some sort of energy at the fire escape and shook it so much that she ended up swan diving down and landing on top of the hooded jerk.

"Oooowww." She groaned. She sat up and looked down at the silver mask. "WHAT THE FUDGING SMURF WAS THAT, DUDE!?"

"Fudging smurf?" He groaned.

"You knocked me off the fire escape!!" She screamed.

"Why...do you smell like Ramen?" he asked.

"Why do you smell like 99 cent ham!?" And with that she punch him in the face, only to shriek in pain and hold her fist. "Is that _real?"_ she asked as she tried very very hard not to cry as she indicated the silver mask.

"No. I bought it at a craft store."

"If it weren't against my religion, I'd be saying some really bad things right now." She cried as she got up. "So who are you?"

"Silver Shadow."

"HEY!" Both their attentions were drawn to Sailor Star, Mini Moon, Xena and Tuxedo Mask Jr. all staring back at them. "YOU!" Star pointed. "Are?"

"Sailor Phoenix." she replied.

"Another one!?" Mini Moon threw her hands up in the air. "Seriously! How many of us are there?"

"What's with the mask?" Jr. asked.

"Uh..." She tried to think of something witty like the Sailor Scouts when the media managed to catch a battle on film. "That's for me to know, and you to find out." Kasadi told him in a pained voice. She probably broke her hand. And with that, she ran off, leaving the others in her dust, trying to get home before anyone noticed she was gone.


	12. You Know How Celebrities Get!

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 11

"YOU KNOW WHAT!? WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER I'M GOING TO BE THE ONE COMING OUT ON TOP!"

"And HOW do you figure THAT?"

"BECAUSE, Good triumphs over evil. ALWAYS"

"Oh come on. That only happens in the movies and teen romance novels."

"WE'RE IN A FUDGING FANFIC!"

Sakura crossed her arms. "I don't get why you're so touchy."

"I asked you to ship those costumes...TWO WEEKS AGO!" Kasadi yelled.

"Your point?"

"THEY WERE SUPPOSSED TO BE THERE TWO WEEKS AGO!" Kasadi wanted to rip her hair out. Sakura refused to do anything but undermine Kasadi's authority. They had started out as equal authority until Sakura decided to skip practice for like a week, and Nakamura demoted her. Now, Kasadi was head stage manager, and Sakura was her assistant. The only 'assissting' Sakura was doing was 'assissting' her in the journey to an early grave. As if Gabby wasn't already doing a spiffy job of that herself.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as he, Meggie and Kyo walked into the room.

"Well...when we get to New York City, all of the guys are going on stage _naked_ thanks to Takahashi."

"Uh-huh. And I am already sorry that I asked." Sam said, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket. "Here, Emma said you left it at home."

"Oh, thanks." Kasadi pocketed it. "And pass the thanks to Emma, too."

"Speaking of, I gotta go meet up with her now." Sam left, after some short "see ya"s and "bye Sam  
"s.

"Why...?" Kyo asked, uncertain whether or not he believed her about the Naked-in-NYC thing.

"I didn't do anything!" shouted Sakura, throwing her arms in the air.

"**Exactly**." Kasadi retorted. "Because she," she jabbed a finger at Sakura. "didn't ship the costumes off to NYC, we're going without them!"

Aoi, the student director, walked into the room, with the phone from the dressing room. "It's the people from the Junior Broadway Program." she said, holding out the phone.

"Thanks." Kasadi said, taking the phone and putting her hand over the reciever. "I'll see you guys later."

"Five o'clock, right?" asked Kyo.

"Yeah."

"Kay, see you then." As the two of them left, Kyo said "Hm...I wonder what would happen if we really did go on stage naked."

"Shut up." Meggie sighed.

"Were you picturing it? I think you were picturing it."

Meggie punched him in the arm and kept walking. Kyo laughed it off, rubbing his arm casually, but, when he was sure she was out of earshot, he turned and, rubbing his arm harder, said, in a pained voice "Oh yeah. Definitely digs me."

"Kyo, maybe if you back off, she'll stop punching you," Kasadi suggested in a fakely-cheerful voice.

"How about we make that Plan H?" He said, backing towards the door.

"H?"

"Yeah, and Plan D is about to start in-" He looked at his watch. "-three, two- Meggie, wait up!" He started running down the hall.

"What's Plan D?" Kasadi shouted after him.

"No idea!" he yelled back over his shoulder.

As soon as Kyo was gone, Kasadi said a quick apology into the phone for making them wait, and starting explaining the situation. The girl on the other end told her to please hold while she got someone who could better handle the situation.

"Are they going out?" asked Sakura.

Kasadi looked over at her; she was still looking at the open door. "What? Meggie and Kyo? No, no, of course not yet."

"S'not fair." grumbled Sakura, going back to her chore of packing up the props.

Kasadi couldn't resist. "What's not fair?"

Sakura dropped a fake skull in the big box on the table before her with a little bit of unnecessary force behind it, and put her hands on her hips, scowling. "Hanzo drops in out of nowhere, and snatches up Sam. Then Izuma shows up- POOF!, like a teenaged Witch of the West- and suddenly Kyo's tripping over himself for her. God." She sighed angrily. "Why do all the hot guys in this school have a crush on those dumb Yankees?"

"Well..." Kasadi stopped and thought about the least Un-Christian way to put it. "I guess it's like...like old Japan."

Sakura perked up, thinking that because Kasadi's metephor involved old Japan, it was beneficial to her more than Emma and Meggie. "Oh? How so?"

"Weeelll...you've got your geishas, who are pretty, and smart, and talented, and then you've your...uh..._not_-geishas."

"Huh." Sakura thought about it for a moment. "I never thought about it that way." She smiled.

"But don't worry:" Kasadi continued. "behind every jerk, there's a not-geisha like you." She held the phone up to her ear again. "Yes, my name is Kasadi Mitrow, and I'm the stage manager of the Tokyo Central High School Drama Club. ...Uh-huh...Yes, we had a little- er- miscommunication. ...Oh, thank you so much! ...Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Yes; and thank you again!" Kasadi pressed the END button. "We're shipping them today." She passed Sakura on her way to the door, and handed her the phone. "And that's the way we geishas do it."

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"Oh...my god." Emma groaned. She, Meggie, Rini, Katsuro,Sam, Kyo and Kasadi were sitting around in the Hanzo living room. Just before rehearsal was dismissed, Nakamura had handed each of them a heavy packet of rules they were to memorize for while they were in the United States.

"This is ridiculous." Kasadi whined. " _Rule number 51: You may not wear any type of pajamas outside of your hotel room except between the hours of 7pm and 7 am. _Come on! Pajamas are very comfy after a long day of rehearsals."

"Just get pajamas that look like sweats." Meggie replied. "LOOP HOLE."

"Very nice." Kasadi smiled.

"Get a load of this one." Kyo said, "_Rule number 17: You may not wear mismatched socks_."

There were some very similar rules like that, but there were still a few rules that just made you want to go 'DUH.' Then there were rules that just made you want to go 'WTF?'

"Oh boy." Emma said, looking at the next rule on the list. "Look at this; 'Double entendres/sexual inuendos are fine, as long as you don't act on them. You kids have hormones, I get it. But they will be non-raging hormones or they will be dead hormones.'" She looked up at the others and folded the sheet in half. "Sorry Kyo. Guess you can't go."

"Haha. Emma made a funny." Kyo said sarcastically. "Well, good luck even holding hands with Sam, Em."

"And the award for the most random comeback ever goes to..." Emma said, confused at what he was trying to say.

"Have you seen the list of chaperones?" Kyo flipped to that page of the packet and handed it to her.

"They're just a bunch of teachers."

"Keep reading."

"And some parents..."

"Down a few."

"And Josh- AND JOSH?!"

"WHAT?!" Sam threw his packet over his shoulder as if it were no help at all, and looked over Emma's shoulder at Kyo's packet. "Josh is a chaperone? What the-"

"Mom Alert!" said Meggie, hearing the front door open, though Sam didn't hear her.

Emma lunged at him and planted her lips on his to muffle the profanity that was sure to escape his mouth if she didn't.

Emma's mother came through the doorway, carrying brown grocery bags in her arms. "Hey, kids, I-- Emma! Down girl!"

Emma broke away from Sam and turned to face her mom. "Sorry Mom. Hormones."

"They better be non-raging hormones or they'll be dead hormones."

"You read the rule book didn't you?"

"Read it?" Beth looked at the kids with a 'don't joke with me' look. "I helped Ms. Nakamura write it." She turned to leave, then turned back to add "Oh, and your father and I are getting Josh a spy kit for Christmas to take with him to New York. Keep that in mind."

Kyo waved. "Hi Mrs. Hanzo."

"Hello, Kyo. How's your mother?"

"She's good."

"Good. Are you staying for dinner?"

"No." said Meggie quickly.

"You're welcome to, if it's alright with your parents," continued Beth as if Meggie hadn't said anything.

"Mom, you should respect Meggie's feelings on th-" Emma began.

"Sam can stay too."

"On your own, Meg."

"I'll call my mom right now and ask," said Kyo, smiling.

"Good, you do that." Beth left. "I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need anything!" she called over her shoulder.

"Oh my gooooosssshh." Emma whined, burying her faced into Sam's shoulder. She then stood up and slapped it. "What was that? I told you my mother likes to pop up at the randomest times! She has eyes and ears all over the house! _**No. Swearing.**_"

"Sorry!" Sam apologized. "But seriously..._your brother_ a _**chaperone**_**!?" **

"Something smells fishy here." Emma said, referring to her parents.

"Sorry." Kyo said quietly. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Katsuro asked.

"I tooted." Kyo replied. It took a full three seconds for it to take effect on everyone. That's how long it took for the smell to get there. That's when they started groaning and scrambling out of the room.

"Someone get me about ten cans of lysol and the number for the fumigator!" Emma screamed running for the kitchen. "MOMMY!"

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The next day was a Saturday. Which meant, of course, rehearsal. Nakamura had gone total Hitler by this point. She said to all of them only a week earlier "I'll be damned if one of you fall off your post at some point and crack a rib because of lack of coordination."

To which Emma replied, "Like Idina Menzel did when she was on Wicked preventing her from performing during her last show!" (Wicked was her favorite Broadway musical of all time. Next to Phantom of the Opera of course.)

"Okay ladies." Nakamura said tiredly to some of the chorus girls from the Masquerade scene. "You did this a thousand times last year. You had a smashing performance. We practice all summer, we practice four times a week, and why can't you girls get this stepping right? It's sache, sache, pliea, and _then_ move to your dancing partners! You all skipped the pliea all together!"

"But, Mrs. Nakamura, we're all going to be in ball gowns. No one will see the pliea. Why not replace them with a bow to our partners?" one of the girls asked.

"Because, that is not how the choreography goes. This is how the play went back in May, this is how it will go in December." Nakamura rubbed her temples. " Now again. Sache, sache, pliea, bow, partners."

"But you just said no bow!" the girl yelled.

"I never said no bow. I just said we weren't replacing the pliea." Nakamura replied.

Meanwhile, Kasadi was over in her little corner of the stage filling out the paperwork for shipping some of the props. She didn't notice the tall dark shadow looming over head.

"Hello." Kasadi looked up and smiled.

"Hiro! Hi." Kasadi put her paperwork down and stood up. "Do you normally come here on a Saturday? To school I mean."

"Not normally, but my grandfather needed to come in and he mentioned that you guys had a rehearsal and I do remember you telling me to stop by sometime,so...here I am." Hiro smiled.

"Cool, how long can you stay?"

"I have nothing better to do, so just basically all day."

"Okay..." Kasadi looked around. "I'm basically stuck with shipping more stuff to New York City...which should have been done last week if that witch Takahashi was a little more competant..." Kasadi mumbled the last part.

"Need help?"

"Nah. I'm good." Kasadi said putting another smile on her face. "Everything will work out."

"Um..Kasadi?" One of the stage hands came running. "We have a problem."

"Yup, I jinxed it," Kasadi said, keeping the smile firmly in place. "What happened?"

"Well...we were putting the scenery canvas in it's box when the guy who plays the guy that gets hung in Act 2 fell through it as we were rolling it up." he said.

"_How..._?" Kasadi asked angrily.

"Well...apparantly he was goofing off with his girlfriend back stage. Basically attempting to make out and walk at the same time, he tripped and-," And the kid made a ripping gesture with his hands.

"Oh my Gooooood." Kasadi groaned. "This cannot be happening! This stuff was supposed to be in New York a week ago. I've had to make countless calls to get this extra time, which I almost didn't get because of that costume fiasco yesterday. _How_ am I going to get that replaced...according to Emma the girl who painted the scenary graduated last year..."

"You need an artist?" Hiro asked. Kasadi looked at him.

"You know one?"

"Well...I have fair painting skills, and you seem to be pretty desperate..." Hiro offered.

"Do you have anything to show me? You know...so that I don't get killed for hiring this guy who can only draw stick figures?" Kasadi asked, then she stopped. "Which I'm sure you don't but...I have to be sure..."

"Of course. And yes. You know the mural in the East Wing?"

"The only part of this school I'm familiar with is this auditorium and the Nurse's office."

"The Nurse's office?"

"Long story." Kasadi said. "Anyway, show me this mural." Hiro led her to the East Wing, which on one of the walls was this mural of the city sky line. Kasadi looked at it. "Hiro...you told me you had fair talent."

"Well...I thought so..."Hiro said, suddenly feeling very foolish.

"This is...amazing."

"What?"

"This is awesome." She smiled widely and turned to him. "You're hired."

"I get paid?"

"Well...not exactly..."Kasadi said, "But...I think I can get you on the roster for the trip to New York. You'll be scenary manager. And if I can manage it, replace Takahashi as my assisstant..."

"That'll be cool." Hiro said. "When do you need this scenary finished?"

"Is tomorrow too soon?" Kasadi asked hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do." Hiro said. "I just need canvas and oil paints."

"In the supply closet. We've got a crapload of everything." Kasadi said. Then she hugged him tightly. "Thank you SO much for this- by the way. You saved my life!"

"No problem." Hiro laughed. "But I should probably get to work now." Kasadi jumped away.

"Right, Right...and if by some reason I can't get you on the New York trip, I will repay you somehow. But, I don't think that will be a problem. Nakamura said all cast and crew and as of today...you are crew."

"Great. I need a vacation." Hiro laughed.

"You know where the supply closet is?" Kasadi asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay good." Kasadi said. "Now. If you'll excuse me, I have to go hang somebody. Technically the Phantom's s'posed to, but you know how celebrities get."

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	13. The Wizard and I

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 12

"Okay. Why are we taking this course again?" Sam asked as they walked into their chorus class.

"Because it was either sign up for chorus or risk decapitation by Nakamura?" Katsuro supplied.

"Oh come on guys. It's not that bad." Kyo told them, "Besides, it's to keep our voices in shape for the performance."

"I could be in Metal Shop right now..."Katsuro whined.

"Stop your complaining boys." Emma said walking up behind them, her music folder in hand. "You guys like it, and you know it."

"No...No we don't." Sam argued.

"Oh you love it when the conductor throws erasers at Kyo." Emma argued back.

"Em. Hun. _Everyone_ loves it when the conductor throws erasers at Kyo." Sam retaliated.

"_Especially_ the conductor." Emma and Sam whipped around and looked at Mr. Miyami, the chorus conductor, who was standing behind them smiling.

"Hi Mr. Miyami..." Emma smiled uneasily.

"Okay you two. Go to your seats." Mr. Miyami told them. Sam and Emma stared at eachother sternly before going seperate ways. Emma to the soprano side, Sam to the tenors.

As said before, Kyo,Sam and Katsuro were in the school's chorus by choice. Technically, every student in the cast of the play who weren't planning on taking chorus in the first place were there by force. When Nakamura announced that they were going to be performing on Jr. Broadway, she made each and every student march down to the main office and made sure each and every single person who wasn't on the list for the next term's chorus class, was. And it just so happened that only the boys hadn't joined chorus...except Kyo.

"Okay," Mr. Miyami started as he pulled out his music, "If you would all turn to page 10 in your music for _Wicked_."

"Page 10?" Emma asked Rini, who was sitting next to her. Meggie was on the other side of the room in the Alto section. "Ooo! The Wizard and I! I love this song."

When finding out she was to be a young broadway star, Emma became obsessed with anything broadway. She studied each and every plot line, bought every soundtrack, knew who played who, for each season of the play. From Avenue Q to Spamalot. She was a freaking walking encyclopedia of musical theatre.

"What's this one about?" Rini asked.

"This is the one where Elphaba is imagining how life will be for her if she teams up with the Wizard of Oz." Emma explained.

"This is pre-the-wizard-is-an-evil-jackass?"

"Yeah." While Emma and Rini conversed about the musical, over at the tenor side Kyo, Sam and Katsuro were looking over their music.

" When I'm with the wizard, feeling things I've never felt..."Katsuro read the lyrics out loud.

"Though I'd never show it...I'd be so happy, I could melt?" Sam made a face. "What is this?"

"This is gay..._literally_." Katsuro complained.

"I think it's pretty." Kyo said with a smile.

"My point exactly."Katsuro laughed.

"Okay everybody. We are goin to start out with this piece. As you all realize it's called the Wizard and I. What we'll do is do one run through-crash and burn-and then we'll do sectionals. Starting with the Basses." Mr. Miyami told them. The bass section groaned, having to be first for sectionals.

The choir was directed in the song. Needless to say-this being their first run through of the piece-they were not very good. Most people find sight-reading music very difficult. Especially for a high school chorus.

Soon the bases were singing the song wonderfully, and then the tenors had to go through theirs. After both sections were in tuned, both boy sections had to sing together. It turned out very well, and Mr. Miyami moved on to the Sopranos.

"Why are they having the guys sing a love song to a wizard?" Katsuro said. "I'm not gay!"

"I know. It's weird." Sam complained.

"Guys it's not a love song." Kyo told them.

"What?"

"It's not a love song." Kyo repeated. "It's about how Elphaba imagines her life getting better after teaming up with the wizard. She won't be pushed aside and made fun of because of her skin. She thinks she could be a normal person if she partners up with the Wizard."

"Oh..." Sam said.

"I feel kinda dumb."Katsuro said.

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Before Serena could even say "Senshi meeting now in order" she was jumped with questions. Mainly from Rini.

"Who's the new chick!?" she yelled.

"New chick?" Serena asked.

"At the last battle we just had, there was a new senshi. At least that's what she told us. She called herself Sailor Phoenix." Meggie said.

"What are her powers?" Darien asked.

"We don't know." Emma answered. "She didn't use any. That's why we're a little skeptic on whether or not she a real senshi, or a copy cat."

"What did she look like?" Amara asked.

"No Idea." Rini said putting her chin on her knees.

"She was masked." Kyo said. " Full faced."

"Well...she'll probably show up again." Michelle told them all.

"We've been getting quite a few masked people lately." Mina said thoughtfully. "Do you think it means anything?"

"We'll just have to wait and see." Darien said.

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	14. Girls Night Out, Boys Night In

A.N: HEY! Here is a nice comic relief chapter. Most of the comedy coming from Kyo's stupidity of course. We are all approaching Christmas break very shortly, which is where Meggie and I will be taking a small break from Great Angel of Fire. But before you freak out, there's more. During this two week break, Meggie and I (Mostly Meggie...with alot of my input) are writing a side story which will be completely about the trip to New York City.

Here is what you can expect:

-Amazing Hilarity

-FLUFF (In all pairings as well as potential pairings) Lots and LOTS of Fluff!

-Special Guest Appearence by a special friend as well as Hero of Meggie and I's. (We're so excited)

-Embarassing Situations

-And much much MORE

I don't want to give out too much, so I'm stopping here. So look out for our side story "Senshi in the City." Just think of it as the ULTIMATE comic relief we can get for this series.

So anyway. ON with the chapter. Enough of my rambling.

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Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 13

"Cell phones?" Meggie looked at her clip board.

"Check" Emma said.

"Cash?"

"Check."Rini smirked

"Boys?"

"GONE!" Kasadi punched the air.

"Okay ladies. Let Girl's Night Out BEGIN!" Meggie cheered throwing her clipboard on the couch and running for the door. Rini, Emma and Kasadi followed close behind.

Seeing that a new villian had shown itself, Emma, Meggie and Rini decided they should probably have a girls night, because they wouldn't have time to do so once the battles started heating up. They invited Kasadi along, because she had been kind of ignored in the earlier weeks, from being so busy. The older Senshi even agreed to do patrols for the night so that they wouldn't be interuppted.

"Okay, Dinner first, then a movie, and then ice cream." Emma said. "Sound like a plan?"

"_Parfait_" Meggie smiled with her eyes closed, imagining this.

"So, where we going for dinner?" Rini asked.

"I'm good with anything but fast food." Emma replied.

"Me too." Kasadi replied.

"Meggie, what do you want?"

"I couldn't care less. Whatever will get me to my hot fudge brownie sundae faster." Meggie laughed.

"How about some Italian then?" Rini asked.

"That sounds great!" Kasadi agreed immediately. They looked over at Emma and Meggie, who were drooling.

"So, we all agree on Italian." Rini laughed.

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"I wonder what the girls are doing." Katsuro said. He had invited all the guys over to his house while his parents went to a party. He was sitting on the couch, with his head back and his eyes closed. The others, (which included only Sam and Kyo) were in similar positions at various points of the room.

"For once...I truly don't care." Sam replied from his stupor.

"I do." Kyo said.

"Kyo, you care about just about anything where Meggie is concerned." Katsuro laughed.

"What? I care." Kyo said. "About all of them. Emma, Rini, Meggie, and even Kasadi now. They're like my sisters."

"Incest!" Katsuro shouted.

"EXCEPT FOR MEGGIE!" Kyo added loudly.

"He's only messing with you Kyo." Sam laughed. "Besides. At least you think of Emma as a sister rather than anything else." Sam added the last part grimly.

"Okay Sam! I told you. It was an accident."

"You and Emma were SNUGGLING."

Katsuro sat up quickly, "Wait...what?"

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"Hello, My name is Hiro and I'll be your waiter tonight."

"Hi Hiro." Kasadi smiled at the restaurant. Hiro looked up from his pad and smiled.

"Oh. Hey Kas." Hiro said, "I didn't realize it was you."

"Well now you know." Kasadi smiled.

"Um...Kas?" Emma said.

"Oh! Brain fart." Kasadi laughed. "Hiro, this is my cousin Emma Hanzo, and my friends Meggie and Rini Tsukino."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hiro Kamasuni." Hiro said.

"Kamasuni?" Meggie asked.

"My grandfather is our principal." Hiro answered replied.

"OOOOoh." Everyone said in unison.

"Hiro kind of saved our show." Kasadi replied. "He's going to make the replacement for that scenery that scenary that Juubashi wrecked."

"Oh cool!" Emma smiled. "You did save us!"

"By the way, I have it just about finished. I just need a few more details and then i need to glaze it which will take no time at all. It will be done by...Tuesday I believe."

"Thank you so much Hiro." Meggie said.

"You're our Hero!" Kasadi beamed. Everyone looked at her. "Hiro...Hero...HAH! Hiro the Hero! I made a funny!"

"I like it." Hiro laughed.

"Anyway..our orders." Rini said. "I'd like a...

"Wait wait... I bet I can guess this." Hiro said. "Rini, you seem to like things simple, but still high in quality...so a nice plate of spaghetti and meatballs."

"Right." Rini smiled. Hiro wrote down the order.

"Okay, now Meggie, you are a free spirit and don't take orders from anybody. So that means no soups of the week or specials or anything like that."

"Uh huh..." Meggie smirked.

"And you don't go for anything that can even be possibly normal...So no pizza tonight. Veil Parmesan with a side of mozzerella sticks."

"Sounds yummy." Meggie said putting down her menu.

"Emma..." Hiro looked at her. "You know your foods. And you know your favorites. But, you are still careful. Do I suspect health issues?"

"Asthma which equals to allergies to shell fish because of the high levels of Iodine." Emma supplied.

"Right." Hiro replied, "Which means, instead of chicken of the sea, just plain chicken. So...Chicken Fettaccini Alfredo." Emma looked at him with a small disappointed look on her face. "Oh right. With Broccoli." Emma beamed.

"Oh you're good..."Emma smiled.

"And now, Kasadi." Hiro smirked. "You are a little tough. You are the exotic one of the group. You are always up for something new. But, you still have to stop yourself sometimes. Which is why I think that our Pasta Primavera. Pasta in a nice garlic sauce, with chicken, carrots, corn, broccoli mushrooms and some parmesan cheese on the top. Tantalizing to the tastebuds, but still a healthy choice because the sauce is made with canola oil and not butter."

Kasadi's reply to that was the rumbling in her stomach.

"I take that as a yes." Hiro laughed as he wrote down Kasadi's order.

"You have a gift." Kasadi smiled.

"I've worked around here long enough to know the types of food for each type of person."

"Well, you certainly have that down." Rini smiled. "But, can you guess our drinks?"

"Of course." Hiro smirked. "Your a bunch of teenage girls, and we're approaching the cold autumn season. Hot Chocolate all around with whipped cream and sprinkles."

"Oh...He's getting tipped big." Emma smiled as she leaned back into her chair.

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"Okay Okay...What I don't get is how Sam fell for Emma so fast." Katsuro said. "One day, you couldn't care less if you had a date to the dance or not, and the next, he's tripping over himself after Emma."

"Don't ask me!" Sam held his hands up. "She just showed up. I fell, she fell, still falling and here we are."

"And not approaching ground any time soon." Kyo smirked. "I don't think I've seen you two ever have a fight."

"Oh we've had fights." Sam said.

"About who loves who more?" Katsuro laughed.

"No." Sam punched his arm. "We've had our doozies. Durning Emma's first summer here, Emma said she wanted to erase our memories of Hoshiko, so that I wouldn't feel obligated to marrying her, and that we could let our relationship take it's course."

"Who's Hoshiko?" Kyo asked.

"Their future daughter." Katsuro replied.

"Oh..."

"Anyway, so, Emma wanted to erase our memories of Hoshiko, and I told her no. I told her that I wanted to have our relationship take it's course with out any alterations to our memories. We started fighting, and there was some yelling. Okay, a lot of yelling. I asked her if she was doing this because she didn't want to be with me, and she said no, she just wanted a clean slate. Then I asked if knowing that someday, we could get married, and that having a life together scared her. And she said yes."

Katsuro and Kyo were silent.

"We broke up for about...four hours." Sam said. "It was pretty intense. I was at her house when it happened, so I ran down the stairs and ran into Mrs. Hanzo, who asked if I wanted a ride. I told her no and ran out the door. I got home and completely walked past Rini, who had obviously already spoken to Emma and went to my room. I laid on my bed for about two hours before I got a knock on my door. Emma came in crying. She apologized for hurting my feelings before. I was the one who offered to get back together."

"Cheese and Rice..."Kyo said, "That's way weird."

"But it happened. We have had our fights, none as big as that one, but we've had some pretty big ones."

"Jeez." Katsuro said. "Rini and I fight nearly everyday..."

"That's because your a moron nearly everyday." Sam replied.

"I resent that."

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After a delicious dinner (Hiro got a monsterous tip,) the girls went to a movie. And after the movie, Meggie got her Hot Fudge Brownie sundae, which looked so good, all the others got one too.

After that, they met the boys at Katsuro's house, and went seperate ways from there. Each group enjoyed their night without the other. The girls especially with no battles.

Meggie and Emma had just said goodnight to Kasadi. They were home kind of late, and they knew they shouldn't have. They had school the next day and a mega-rehearsal that they just couldn't be drowsy for. So, they just went straight to bed, energizing for the next day.

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	15. I come here every tuesday!

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 14

"Oh crap." Jr. gasped as he saw the blood pour from the wound in his leg. Star, Xena and Jr were fighting short handed. Rini had just come down with the flu when The Silver Shadow attacked. They were all walking home from a late night practice when they were attacked. Luckily, they had split ways with Kasadi. Kasadi had to run to the store to get supplies for a project for school and had to go a seperate way. Emma and Meggie were going with Sam to give Rini some Homework and Kyo tagged a long just so he'd have someone to talk to, since Emma and Meggie would have to go the same direction as him when they did have to go home.

So, when Shadow sprung on them, Emma shoved Sam into an empty alleyway and transformed with Xena and Jr.

They were winning for a bit until Jr. had his leg sliced by Shadow's sword. So, Jr.'s stage fighting magic he did was put out of commission due to the inability to walk.

"Shit." Xena cursed as she blocked off a punch.

"Xena, I'm running low on power." Star cried.

"How the hell are you running out of power!? You're suppossed to be like an unlimited battery pack!" Xena yelled.

"But that's when we run into youma where there's one shot of power and their dead. This guy is human! Or at least mostly...He's got gear that absorbes the energy. I'm apparantly not as unlimited as everyone thought."

Xena almost added something when a blur of maroon jumped ontop of Shadow, who was just about to punch Xena in the face.

"Ha!" Sailor Phoenix looked down at Shadow who was laying beneath her feet. "Take that 99 cent ham!" Silver Shadow just grabbed her legs and flew her upward, having her land on Jr.

"AAHHHH!" He hissed in pain as Phoenix scrambled off of him.

"Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry." she said as she looked at his legs. "You need to get to a hospital. I'll try to end this as fast as I can." She stood up and closed her eyes. "Phoenix Fire Ammunition!"

A stream of fire flew out of her hands and started swirling in them, forming into a giant machine gun. "Watch out!" Phoenix yelled at Star and Xena, who looked over and saw the large flaming gun. They threw themselves out of the way as Phoenix pulled the trigger and a flaming ball of aura shot out of it, hitting Shadow sqaure in the chest and sending him flying. His shirt had a hole burned through it and he had a very nast burn on his chest.

The flame thrower turned back into fire that was absorbed back into Phoenix's body. "I've got more dude!"

Shadow stood up and started running away. Disappearing as he jumped up to the top of the nearest building. Phoenix then looked back at Jr and helped him up.

"He needs some serious stitches." She told Star and Xena as they ran over.

"Who are you?" Star asked taking one of Jr.'s arms.

"At least we know your not an imposter now." Xena added taking the other.

"You'll find out soon enough." Phoenix replied before running out to and empty alley where Gabby was waiting for her. She ripped off her mask and glared. "Why didn't you tell me that they were Emma and Meggie!" she screamed. Gabby just sighed.

"I thought you would have figured that part out during your first battle." Gabriella replied.

"I was a little busy falling from the fire escape and nearly breaking my hand." she said hotly. "So, does this mean I tell them now? Since I know who they are."

"No." Gabby told her.

"And why the heck not?" Kasadi said after taking off her necklace.

"Because I said so." Gabriella told her. Kasadi rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She said before walked off, stuffing her necklace and mask in her back as she went.

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" Hello Kyo." The doctor walked in. "What did you do this time."

"Oh, same old same old. Bad guy kicked my tusshy. And then cut my leg." Kyo replied.

"I keep telling you to be more careful."

"Sorry Sir-Shiny-Certificate." Kyo said. Meggie and Emma looked in surprise.

"How's that scar on your stomach Emma. Is it fading away alright?"

"Uh...Yeah..." Emma blinked. "You...know about us?"

"Yes. Kyo drew me a lovely picture last year." the Dr. said pulling out a piece of paper from his clip-board. There was a poorly drawn picture of Tuxedo Mask Jr. in crayon and on it said " To: Sir Shiny Certificate From: Kyo Wakimaya (aka. Tuxedo Mask Jr.)"

"Kyo!!" Emma smacked him.

"It's okay girls. I'm the Senshi doctor. I figured it out a long time ago." The doctor replied. "I keep Kyo's picture with me at all times so that no one else figures it out."

"Kyo...I don't remember you doing that picture any of the times we were in the hospital though." Meggie said.

"I didn't do it then." Kyo replied happily. " I come here every tuesday."

"Why?" Meggie asked, regretting it as she said it.

"Well, DUH!" Kyo told them, "Family Game Night!"

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A.N: I know that chapter was impossibly short. But this one was mostly filler...but a longer chapter next time. Promise!


	16. Coffee with Hiro

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 15

"Nakamura is late...again!" Rini said as she was running around trying to find her dance shoes.

"Last time this happened we found out we're going to go New York City." Meggie laughed.

"Maybe now we're going to Disney Land!" Kyo said excitedly.

"Hey Meggie!" Emma came bursting into the auditorium, a tallish boy with brown hair was following behind her. Meggie walked over.

"Yeah?" 

"This is Koki, from our french class. He was my partner that one time where the teacher split us up so that we could help some of the less fluent in multiple languages."

"Oh hi." Meggie smiled.

"Hey." Koki smiled back. Emma stood behind them and smiled.

"Oh! Kasadi's calling me. You two chat. I'll be back." Emma smiled and then was off with a flash.

"Kasadi didn't call her did she?" Meggie laughed.

"I don't know who Kasadi is, but I'm guessing not."

"She's been trying to set me up with someone for a while since she's given up on Kyo succeeding." Meggie said. "She wants me to be happy like her and Sam apparantly."

"Well.." Koki shrugged. "Why not humor her for once...Wanna go out sometime?" Meggie rolled her eyes but smiled. At least he wasn't weird.

"Sure. Why not." Meggie smiled. " Are you free in about an hour? We can grab something to eat after rehearsal."

"Sure. I'll meet you out front in an hour."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Kyo yelled. Meggie turned around to yell at him but he wasn't there, so when she turned to talk to Koki again, Kyo was on his back pulling his hair.

"Ow! Dude!" Koki yelled, trying to throw Kyo off his back. Meggie growled.

"Koki, don't move." Koki stood still as Meggie spun around and kicked Kyo in the face. Kyo fell off like a bug hitting a Bug Zapper. He wasn't hurt. Just stunned.

"You should probably walk away now. It's going to get ugly in a sec." Meggie told Koki.

"O...kay..." Koki said looking at Kyo, who was twitching on the floor.

"I'll see you after rehearsal." She told him, pushing him out the door.

"Yeah, see ya." As soon as Koki was gone, Meggie turned on Kyo.

"What the Hell was THAT!?" she yelled at him.

"You were going to go on a date with that guy?" Kyo yelled back as he got up.

"I AM going on a date with him!"

"WHY!? I've asked you a thousand times and you say no! He asks you once and you say yes!"

"Kyo! Listen to me. I. DON'T. LIKE. YOU. LIKE. THAT." Meggie separated each syllable.

"Why not!" Kyo asked. "What about that kiss!?"

"Kyo. I told you to drop it." Meggie said.

"But Meg-"

"No Kyo!" Meggie held up her hand. "If you really liked me, you'd want me to be happy right?"

"Of course but-" Meggie held her and up again.

"If you really like, and you want me to be happy. You'll accept that I don't like you the way you like me, and let me get on with my life without having to come back to the stupid kiss every time I do something with another guy that isn't you!" Meggie said before walking away. Kyo watched her leave and sat down against the wall.

"You okay?" Kasadi asked sitting next to him.

"No." Kyo replied.

"If it helps, I'm still rooting for you." She said.

"Thanks." Kyo said. Kasadi leaned her head against his shoulder.

"How about after rehearsal, I treat you to some caffiene." Kasadi asked. " Caffiene always makes me feel better."

"No. It's okay. I have to babysit my sister after rehearsal anyway. Rain check though."

"Rain check." Kasadi agreed. She got up and helped Kyo up. "You better go get the rest of your props packed up so I can ship them tomorrow."

"Kay." Kyo said. "Thanks Kas."

"No problem." Kasadi smiled.

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Rehearsal wasn't terrible that day. Nakamura did eventually show up. That day's rehearsal was actually pretty slow. It was mostly just packing up for the trip.

"Hey Kasadi!" Hiro called as she was leaving the school.

"Hey Hiro." Kasadi

"Hey, you wanna get some coffee or something? My treat?" Hiro asked.

"Um sure. But, when my Aunt and Uncle ask where this caffiene induced high came from, I'm blaming you."

"Fair enough." Hiro laughed. They walked to the coffee shop down the street, after Emma told Meggie and Emma where she'd be. Hiro took his cofee black, to which Kasadi made a hilarious face. Kas, got a mint-choco-moca latte, double the cream, triple the foam.

They sat over at a table by the window. "Thanks for getting me on the New York City trip."

"No problem. We were short handed in the scenary department anyway. I just hope you know some heavy lifting is apart of the job. A lot of our big strong guys graduated last year so...yeah."

"Heavy Lifting...huh. No problem." Hiro smiled.

"That's good." Kasadi smiled back.

"So, what brought you to Japan?"

"Being a genius apparantly." Kasadi replied.

"Oh right. Tokyo Academy of the Smartness." Kasadi laughed.

"Yeah. That's the one."

"Did you have a boyfriend back home?" he asked. Kasadi looked down at her coffee.

"I didn't have a boyfriend any more by the time I started testing." Kasadi explained.

"Oh." Hiro said. "I'm sorry."

"Nah. It's okay. He was a jerk anyway."

"What happened?" Hiro asked. "If you don't mind asking."

"It's okay. Well, his name was Henry Nash. He asked me out after Christmas last year. We got really close and I thought I loved him. And well...long story short I found him cheating on me with this girl in my class, Jennifer White." Kasadi explained.

"Oh...yikes." Hiro said.

"Yeah." Kasadi smirked. "It was right before school ended. So, I dumped him. Cried a whole lot, went all pyromaniac and burned most of the stuff he gave me. A month later, I went to take my tests, and one thing leads to another and Poof, here I am."

"Pyromaniac huh?"

"Yeah, my parents ended up having to re-landscape the back yard. Wasn't pretty." Kasadi laughed.

"I can imagine." Hiro shook his head.

"So, you heard my story. What's yours?" Kasadi asked.

"Well, I'm an orphan. Well, that's as far as I know." Hiro started. "My dad left when I was about five. My mom remarried about three years later. They ended up having a daughter four years later. Her name was Yuumei. My step-father was going to adopt me, which was fine by me since I didn't remember my real dad. We were about a week away from signing the papers, about a year and a half ago, when my mom, my step-dad and little sister were in the middle of a youma attack. My parents were hit by a rougue attack and killed instantly, but Yuumei was hit too, but wasn't killed. At least not immediately. Once the senshi got there, and were able to get the police and ambulance in, sh was admitted into the hospital and held on for about a week before she died. There was a lot of brain damage on her part, so even if she did survive, she would have most likely been seriously disabled for the rest of her life. She was almost five. I just wish the senshi had gotten there sooner."

"I'm so sorry." Kasadi said. She felt bad for not being there. Sure, it was before she was even made a senshi...But Emma was there...why hadn't Emma saved them? Why hadn't she gotten there sooner? "It must of been hard."

"Yeah." Hiro said. "But Gramps came in to save the day. He and my grandmother are the only ones I have in connection to my father."

"So, what?" Kasadi asked. "He just disappeared?"

"Yep. No one knows where he is. Not even my grandparents."

"That's sad." Kasadi said. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my dad."

"Well, I never really knew him." Hiro said. "But after my family died, I kinda became known as a problem child. Like I explained when I met you, I was more prone to get caught fighting."

"Ah right. 'It's the one who throws the second punch that gets caught,' I remember."

"Right." Hiro laughed. "And I'm living proof."

"I see." Kasadi said.

"I'm not really a violent person." Hiro said. " I hope you know that."

"I know." Kasadi said. "You told me. You were always basically provoked when you got caught fighting."

"Yeah." Hiro said. "I just know that you're especially against violence."

"I am." Kasadi said. "But...I've been kind of forced to accept that violence is some times the only way out...and I know you wouldn't fight unless, you were like the proverbial cat backed up in a corner."

"That's a good way to put it." Hiro said. "I don't really fight anymore though...That was mostly last year and everything."

"That's good." Kasadi smiled. "Hey, I should probably go. My Aunt will probably get worried."

"Okay, I'll come with you."

"No it's okay. You don't have to. I live like a block away." Kasadi said getting up.

"No, I want to. The city isn't nessecarily safe when you're by yourself." Hiro got up as well.

"Oh alright." Kasadi gave in. "If you want to."

"I do." Hiro smiled. So, the two set off for the door. Kasadi felt really grateful that Hiro wanted to walk her home. She liked him. He was nice and cute and seemed to be really caring. "What are you going to do once you finish High School?" Hiro asked when they were about half way there.

"I'm not exactly sure." Kasadi said. "I've always been really interested in working with animals. But I also really like fashion. It's kind of my thing."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. My mom says that I've been picking my clothes out since I learned my colors. I like designing my own stuff. My mom taught me how to sew when I was ten, and I make a lot of my own clothes. But I also love to shop for clothes too."

"That's cool." Hiro said. "I think I want to be a police officer."

"Really?" Kasadi asked.

"Yeah." Hiro replied, "It's something I've always been interested in."

"Well, it helps to do something your interested in." Kasadi said.

"It certainly does." Hiro smiled down at her. "Now where do you live?"

"Up on Nakawas Street." Kasadi replied.

"Nakawa?" Hiro asked, "That's a pretty nice area."

"Yeah. My Aunt and Uncle make good money. A scientist and a College Professor. That's probably a good thing since they have three-sometimes four when Emma's brother comes home- mouths to feed not to mention their own." Kasadi said.

"So, It's you and Meggie living there at the moment? With your Aunt and Uncle I mean." Hiro asked.

"And sometimes my cousin-Emma's brother-Josh. He lives with his girlfriend mainly, but sometimes, he pisses her off."

"Ah...I see." Hiro laughed.

"Yep. But it really sucks for though, because Meggie moved into his room when she moved in, and the guest room was turned into my room. So, when he has to crash, he gets the couch."

"Very Nice." They turned onto Nakawa and went up a few houses until they got to the Hanzo's house. Hiro walked her up to the door.

"Thanks for walking me home." Kasadi said. "And the coffee. I will surely have a buzz the rest of the night"

"You're welcome." Hiro smiled, he looked over at the sun, which was setting. "I better get home."

"You need a ride?"

"Nah, I don't live very far from here."

"Okay. Thanks Hiro." Kasadi said opening the door.

"No problem."

"Good Night."

"Night." Hiro waved as he backed away down the sidewalk. Kasadi watched from the living room window as he walked away. Something familiar reawakened in the pit of her stomach, and moved right up to her chest.

"Oh boy." Kasadi mumbled to herself as she leaned against the wall. "The butterflies are back."

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	17. Phoenix Unmasked

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 16

Phoenix watched intently on the action going on beneath the tree she was perched in. Gabby had called her to battle the minute she got home from a meeting with Nakamura and Sakura causing her to miss dinner, and by the time she got to fourth street, Sailor Mini Moon, Star, Xena and Jr were wrapping it up with Shadow. So, she sat in the tree, just in case they needed her.

She hadn't been in the Senshi business for long, but even she knew that The Silver Shadow was peculiar. She could tell that he was strong. She had been beaten around by him during battle enough to know that much. But, whenever he was even mildly injured he'd take off. He obviously didn't have an mystical powers, so he wasn't even like the typical villan that the senshi was used to. If it weren't for the fact that the Silver Shadow had directly targeted the senshi, he'd probably be a police case.

"Dammit!" Xena yelled, bringing Phoenix out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw the Shadow was gone again. "Why did he take off again?"

"Meg." Emma said, civilianized once again. Everyone else did so as well."You stabbed him."

"Psha." Meggie crossed her arms. "Twas only a flesh wound."

"Apparantly, he didn't think so." Rini said. "But what I wanna know is where Sailor Phoenix was today."

"Said the one who doesn't want any more newbies." Emma looked at Rini.

"Hey, I just didn't want to deal with wannabes. I'm used to the newbies now." Rini explained.

"Said the girl who still refers to me as 'the Wacko.'" Kyo put in.

"But now that we know this girl is legit, we could seriously use the help with everyone else out being 'normal adults'." Rini said, using air-quotes.

"You just want to check out her powers."Kyo smirked. "And see if she'll replace me as the team's Wacko."

"Don't worry Kyo. No one will every replace you as the Wacko." Rini sarcastically pat him on the shoulder.

"As much fun as it is calling Kyo names," Meggie started, "and believe me. It is fun. I'm really late."

"Late for what?" Rini asked.

"She has another date with Koki." Emma smirked.

"WHAT!?" Kyo exploded.

"Yes Kyo. She once again resisted your 'charms and good looks'." Rini said, whipping out the air-quotes again.

"And lack of sanity." added Meggie.

"Meggie!" Kyo whined.

"I'm not even going to get into this with you Kyo. I have to go." Meggie told him as she started to walk away. Kyo watched her in silence.

"FINE!" Kyo finally yelled after her. "Go out with Koki! See if I care!" He crossed his arms and waited for her response. Which was simply her middle finger. Kyo frowned."In that case, I'll just go find myself a date! Hey, maybe I'll date Sailor Phoenix! Let's see how much you care now!" There was the sound of cracking wood, and a giant thump that caused Kyo to turn around.

"Sorry dude," She groaned as she pushed the branch she had been sitting on, off her legs. She got up and dusted herself off, "but I don't think you're my type."

"Jeez Kyo." Rini looked over at him, "Shot down by two girls all in less than three minutes. I think you beat Sam's record."

"Have you been in that tree this entire time?" Emma asked, slightly angry.

"No...only since right before Shadow took off." Phoenix replied casually, working a kink out of her neck from ther fall. If she wasn't wearing a mask, the others would be able to tell be that look on her face that she was pretty banged up.

"Why didn't you come down?"

"Well, you guys had it all under conrol..."She replied.

"Under control? UNDER CONTROL!?" Kyo yelled, in a rather unnessesary tone.

"Yes Kyo, under control." Phoenix crossed her arm. The three faces in front of her, stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You know our identities!" Kyo pointed an accusing finger.

"For once you were on the same page as us, Kyo." Emma glared at Phoenix, while putting her hands on her hips.

"You must be an alien mind-reader!"

Emma closed her eyes in disbelief. "Just apparently you've got the wrong book."

"Okay, time to fess up." Rini said. "You know who we are, now it's time for you to you to tell us who you are."

"I'm sorry." Sailor Phoenix said. "I can't do that."

"And why not?" Emma asked dangerously.

"I'm under orders. Strict orders. From a _cat_. _Mean_ cat. ...I think she's PMS-ing." she added as an afterthought. Then she looked at Emma, thoughtful. "Do cat's PMS?"

"Well," Emma started. "you are going to tell us right now or you'll be sorry!"

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Phoenix asked with amusement in her voice. Before Emma could reply with a threat, four bladed boomerangs came flying into the clearing. All four of them dropped to their stomachs, avoiding death by an inch. "I was being sarcastic!" Phoenix yelled at Emma, who was reaching for her necklace to transform. Kyo and Rini were transforming as well.

"Star Sphere!" Sailor Star shot at one of the boomerangs, that had disappeared for a moment but returned the next, obviously relaunched. Tuxedo Mask Jr. pinned one against a telephone pole with one of his razor sharp rose stems.

"What the hell is this?" Sailor Mini Moon yelled, as another boomerang nearly cut off one of the buns on the top of her head. "Hey!!!"

"Years and years you have been in the senshi, Sailor Mini Moon. And yet, you still haven't learned to never let your guard down." They all looked up, and saw the Silver Shadow sitting on the branch beside the one that used to hold Sailor Phoenix, before it broke. "What would the Queen say about her daughter being so careless." Mini Moon glared at him.

Meanwhile, Sailor Phoenix let a massive ball of fiery energy fly. Hopeing that The Silver Shadow was too caught up in taunting Mini Moon, it would hit him. But, he held up his shield of a cape, and sent it flying back. Phoenix braced herself for the impact, but instead of getting hit with energy, she was tackled by Sailor Star. Phoenix hit a tree face first and heard a crack of plastic.

_Fudging Smurf!_ she shouted in her head as the realization of what just happened hit her.

She turned around in time to see Tuxedo Mask Jr. hit The Silver Shadow with a rose, in the middle of the chest. It wasn't nearly deep enough to hit his heart, but enough for him to bleed profusely. Shadow cursed, before taking off into the trees.

"Ow..." Star said getting up. "Are you alright?" She turned to help Phoenix up, but gasped when she looked at her. "KASADI!" Mini Moon and Jr. both turned at the exclamation. Kasadi sat on the base of the tree and looked at the two halves of her mask sitting in her hands.

"Um..." Phoenix rubbed her bruised face as she searched for words of explanation.

"Kasadi Monica Mitrow..." Star growled, as she ripped her necklace off, to take the appearence of a pedestrian, once again. "...You have some major explaining to do." Emma grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. Phoenix reached up and unhooked her necklace. Kasadi sighed.

"What do you want to know?" She asked.

"OH! I don't know..."Emma looked to the heavens and glared. Almost as if she was blaming God for this, but Kasadi knew she wasn't. Her cousin was merely furious to find out that she had kept this secret from her. Emma looked at Kasadi again, her eyes narrowed. "How about _everything_?!"

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	18. Understanding

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 17

Kasadi knew she was in trouble. She knew the moment they walked into the house, and found that Emma wouldn't look at her.

They sat in the living room silently, for about two hours before Meggie came home from her date.

"What's going on?" Meggie asked when she saw the less than So, she silently followed them upstairs, to her bedroom. She feared for her life only a little when Emma locked the door.

" When did this happen?" Emma asked. She was absolutely livid. In all her years, she had never seen her so angry. She looked at Meggie, who was looking out the window with her arms crossed over her chest. "Kasadi."

"Two or three months ago."

"And why...did it take you that long to tell us?"

"I wasn't allowed to." Kasadi said looking down to her lap.

"Who was giving your orders?"

"Gabriella." Meggie turned around, her red hair whipping into her face. Her face twitched a bit as she thought of ways to murder a cat. She said something about sending the cat to their friend Jessica back in Montrose, whose father was a taxadermist and then turned back to the window.

After that, it went down hill. They didn't yell at her. No, it was worse. They spoke very quietly, but harshly. They were so angry. And Kasadi let them be. She knew she should have told them, and she was going to take it.

After a while, they ran out of things to say, and Emma and Meggie left Kasadi in her room, to let the one sided argument stew over night. On the way to her room, Meggie found Gabby. She picked the cat up by the scruff of the neck and carried her to the bedroom. Gabby was going to get an earful.

"What the hell, Gabby?!" she demanded after she nudged the door mostly closed with her foot and dropped Gabby on the bed.

"I did nothing wrong." Gabby said simply.

"What?! Gabriella, you kept this from me! My friend was in serious danger, and you kept it from me! How could you? Gabby," Meggie knealt on the floor so she was on the same eye-level as the cat. "You were the one person in the world that never lied to me, even about the little things. Even last year, when I really, really needed someone to just lie to me and say that everything was all right, and that my parents were going to snap out of it and take me home, you didn't even consider for one solitary second that I deserved anything less than the truth. But this, Gabby?" Meggie tried to blink back the tears. "Why, Gabby?"

Gabby looked at Meggie, her eyes devoid of guilt, or even pity. Finally, she said "You silly little girl."

Meggie couldn't believe that Gabby- her Gabby- had just called her that. "What?" she whispered disbelievingly.

"Even detail of your life was determined long before you were ever born. You think you have choices- well, you do. A sweater here, a sandwich there. But the big things? Where you live? Who you marry? All of last year. That's out of your hands. And mine. I did what I was meant to do. I am not here to make decisions. I am here to carry out someone else's. You were not supposed to know Kasadi's true identity until now. I just had to make it happen. Get some sleep." Gabby got up and jumped down off the bed, walking towards the door.

Meggie, not turning to watch Gabby go, finally found her voice. "Don't you mean _Sailor Pheonix's_ true identity?"

Gabby stopped, and said, not looking back, said "No. I don't. Serena is a fool." Gabby turned. "She thinks that she can give it up, the youmas and the danger, and have a life. There is no passing of the baton. There is no retiring. You'll always be Xena, Meggie. Xena never takes a vacation, and she never hands the reins to a normal, 15-year-old, American-Japanese sophomore who goes to Tokyo Central and denies what she feels. One day I pray you realize that. All of you."

Meggie got to her feet and turned to face Gabby. "You wanna vague that up for me?" she said in a choked voice.

"Under the stars, you'll stop fighting destiny."

"Knew I could count on you."

"Good night." Gabby slipped out the door, and went down the hall, past Emma's room, where Emma herself stood in the doorway. Gabby stopped for a moment, expecting a tirade.

But all Emma did was look down at the cat and ask "Under the stars?"

"Yes. But not you. Your journey to acceptance is far from over." And with that, Gabby was gone, down the stairs and who-knows-where.

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_2:00 am_

Emma stared at her computer screen, her jaw slightly dropped. She reached to her side and picked up the phone.

"Emma, this better be good! I'm having good snuggly time with Darien and I-,"

"Serena. I need you to call an emergency senshi meeting. Tell Mina to bring Kasadi to Rei's after church and tell Ami to bring anything she can find on legends on Phoenixes. "

"Okay, but you better explain this later or so help me-,"

"Bye." she hung up and looked out her bedroom door, which was open, and saw Kasadi's closed one.

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The next morning, Kasadi didn't speak to either Emma or Meggie, because by the time Beth had woken her up, they were both in the car ready to go to church, and Mina was on her way to take her to her church.

When Kasadi got down stairs, Mina said that after the service, they were to go to Rei's house.

"Emma called Serena last night and called an emergency senshi meeting." Mina told her in the car, her voice not as cheery as usually was. It was like she was only saying that because she had to. They didn't talk during the whole hour drive to the next city to get to Kasadi's church. Kasadi had a feeling that the entire senshi knew how the battle the night before ended.

The service was a little shorter than usual, considering that the preacher's wife went into labor half way into the sermon. So,she and Mina were able to get back into Tokyo a full half hour early.

Emma and Meggie showed up at Rei's house about twenty minutes after Kasadi did. Kasadi had only met Emma and Meggie's friends a handful of times, and she never really had a chance to talk to all of them. She didn't even know that most of these girls-and guys- were part of the senshi.

_'Wait...Amara is a girl...right?'_

"Okay." Serena stood up. "We're all here now. Emma, you have something to say."

"Okay, you all know by now that our mystery senshi...is Kasadi." Emma started, "We found out last night due to The Silver Shadow and a very large tree. Kasadi is Sailor Phoenix."

Kasadi looked around the room. Everyone's faces were pretty sullen, but they were nothing compared to Emma's and Meggie's. She looked at Meggie's feet and saw a cat carrier. She assumed Gabriella was in it. Luna and Artemis were sitting by the door of it, glaring at the other magical cat.

"Now, I did some reasearch last night. And I didn't find anything I like." Emma said. "Ami? Did you find anything?"

"As far as I can tell, there are no legends on Phoenixes. I didn't find a single one."

"Well, all I dug up was on the apparantly not-so-made-up Phoenixes." Emma stood up. "Phoenixes, are 'mythical' birds of a sort, with some fire capabilities. There isn't a whole lot that was of interest to us except that their tears have healing capabilities, and..." Emma looked at Kasadi as if she were trying to fight back tears, "When they are ready to die, the combust and turn into ash."

"The riddle." Rei said. "The other target in the riddle, is Kasadi."

"I'm almost positive." Emma said.

"What riddle?" Kasadi asked.

"Right after you came here, The Silver Shadow spouted off a nice rant on how he's working for this new Big Bad-"

"Nice Buffy reference." said Kyo quietly to Meggie, who shushed him and rolled her eyes.

"-and how he's after Meggie, Kyo and I as well as another target. He gave us a riddle." Emma explained, getting less angry as she got more into meeting mode.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, she will die when she does what she must." Meggie recited the riddle.

"So, Kasadi is the other target..."Amara said,putting an arm around Michelle's shoulders. "This should be fun." She smirked at her sarcasm.

"Amara." Emma glared. "Funniness is unwelcome right now." Amara made a noise similar to an angry cat.

"Angry?"

"Yes Amara!" Emma got up and yelled. "Once again, these people are going after people I care about! First Sam, then Meggie, and _now_ Kasadi!!! Next thing I know, their going to go after my brother...or my parents or ten years from now, _my kids._ It could be Hoshiko all over again. And you all know that I can't go through _that_ again."

"Emma," Meggie said, "Calm down."

"NO!"

"Em, we don't even know what's going on yet." Kasadi said.

"If someone will let me out, I can tell you." Everyone looked at the carrying case. Gabby's yellow eyes shown through the darkness of it.

"Let her out." Serena said. Meggie opened the door, and grabbed Gabby by the scruff just in case she tried to bolt.

"Speak." Meggie said.

"Fine." Gabby said, "There is one pretty vague legend out there, but pretty blunt at the same time. Every couple of thousand of years there is a warrior phoenix that takes the form of a girl. She is given one life mission. And when that mission is through, she dies. Only to be reincarnated again."

"To die again." Emma said shortly. Everyone was silent.

"So, what's this mission?" Meggie asked.

"No one knows until it is complete." Gabriella replied.

"So, what your saying, when Kassadi suddenly bursts into flame, we'll know that she's hit that one mission?" Emma screamed at the cat.

"Everyone has a purpose," Gabriella said calmly, "and this is Kasadi's."

"Fine then." Emma looked at Kasadi, her eyes flaming with defience. "You aren't fighting. Ever."

"WHAT!?" Kasadi stood up.

"You can't do that, Emma. This is her destiny." Gabby said. Emma looked down at the cat on Meggie's lap.

"Save it Gabby. I don't take orders from you." Emma seethed.

"And she does not take orders from you." Gabby said. "She cannot escape her destiny!"

"How about I decide this for myself." Everyone looked at Kasadi who was standing there with her hands clenched into fists.

"Kas, we'll talk about this later." Emma said, and then she looked at Gabby. "You better stay out of my sight. Come on Kasadi. We're going home. Luna and Meggie, I'll see you at home."

Emma walked out of the room. Everyone was silent as Kasadi still stood with her hands in fists. "KASADI!" Kasadi turned around and walked out.

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"NO!" Kasadi yelled. They were in Emma's room.

"You won't fight. I'll lock you in here if I have to."

"This is not your decision Emma!" Kasadi said, "It's mine!"

"I don't care Kasadi!" Emma screamed. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Emma...who's Hoshiko?" Kasadi asked. Emma was taken back by the randomness of the question.

"What?"

"You said back at the meeting, that this could be Hoshiko all over again. Who's Hoshiko?" Emma sat down on her bed.

"She's my daughter." Emma said.

"What!?" Kasadi said a little too loudly, "You and Sam...haven't...you couldn't have..."

"Hoshiko is our future daughter. Several years in the future."

"So...you and Sam haven't...?"

"No. We haven't," Emma answered the question, "I've told Sam that I won't until I'm married. And he has nothing to worry about because all evidence leads to him being Hoshiko's father. The biggest piece, being that her last name is Tsukino."

"And what does Hoshiko have to do with me fighting?" Emma told Kasadi about what really happened in her 8th grade year where it ended with her being in the hospital due to severe abdominal trauma. Everything about Hoshiko, and Rini's jealousy. She continued right into Meggie's story as well.

"That's why you don't want me fighting?"

"Yes. Chances are, eventually, something will go wrong...it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong." Emma said.

"But, we don't know what this mission is."

"All the more reason not to find out." Emma said. Kasadi sighed. She was quickly losing this battle of logic. Emma wasn't backing down.

"Okay...I won't fight." Kasadi said. "As long as you aren't in trouble. Because, according to you, you, Kyo and Meggie are also targets." Emma looked at Kasadi. She was thinking real hard on whether or not to accept. "You won't get a better offer."

"Fine."

"Okay." Kasadi sighed.

"But there will be rules. You are not to go to any battle. You aren't even allowed to be on the scene. You are, though, allowed to go to senshi meetings and help us strategize. You can also help us research. But, you will not transform under any circumstances. Unless it's life or death."

"Deal." Kasadi said.

"Okay." Emma looked at the clock, it was only four in the afternoon. "I have plans with Sam. Meggie should be home soon. Do you mind if I take off?"

"It's okay. Go get cuddly with Sam. Just not _too_ cuddly." Kasadi gave her a warning look.

"Kasadi...don't you think my mother has told me that a million times before."

"You always need to be told at least once more every time."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Emma sighed. "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

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	19. Day 52 of Immobilization

A.N: FINALLLLLYYYYY! Chapter 18, the mother of all super hard battle scenes is FINISHED! WOOT! I can now honestly say upates will be coming much faster.

Senshi in the City, a sidefic documenting the k-razy adventures of our favorite hooligans in NYC while participating in Junior Broadway, will be up probably later today. Be sure to read and review-- there's a crazy hotel manager, a drill-sergeant Josh, Emma's old boyfriends (well, almost-boyfriend) and Meggie and Kyo hilariousness!

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Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 18

_Two months later_

Kasadi stuck to her agreement. She didn't go to battle, she went to all of the Senshi meetings and she helped with research. Emma did permit her to train with them. She was quickly climbing her way to a black belt, and her self-defense fighting was superb.

Kasadi wasn't thrilled about being ordered around in the sense that she wasn't allowed to do her Senshi-Fu on anyone but Jimmy the Kah-rah-tay Test Dummy. But, for the sake of Emma's insanely high stress levels, she wasn't about to start any trouble. Emma just didn't want to lose her.

Kasadi fully intended to lay low. So that's why, right after sunset, when Emma and Meggie took off with Luna, she just sat in her room and pulled out her laptop. She maneuvered her mouse around and clicked on Microsoft Word, opening a document.

_Day 52 of Immobilization_, she typed.

_I discovered a sock under my bed today, which I previously thought I had lost. It was the one with little stars and frogs on it (see Day 43 of Immobilization, page 8, paragraph 3, sentence 2). There was much rejoicing._

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"It is TOO FRICKIN COLD for these skirts!" Sailor Xena whispered angrily. She and Star were hiding out in a bush (kneeling in _snow_), with Luna by their feet. The Silver Shadow was standing about ten feet in front of them. Due to the stainless steel mask on his face, Shadow couldn't hear them very well. Granted, they were short handed, but this time they would sneak up on him, instead of vice versa.

Kyö was at his Aunt Mayura's house having an early Christmas dinner since they were going to be leaving for New York on Christmas night.

Rini was at the International Relations office. She was having a little trouble getting her Visa to the United States. The one thing that she over looked when she moved from the future, is when she planted her social security number into the computers, to prove she existed, she put in her _real_ social security number. One that wasn't supposed to be issued for several years. She was now in the process of brainwashing them all over again, making the government think they had a fluke in the system.

Gabby was somewhere in the city. She still hadn't been forgiven for the Kasadi incident, and was starting to feel the burn of being locked out of Meggie's room every night.

So it was only Xena and Star on that Christmas Eve night. Kasadi was being a good girl and staying home like she was asked to. They really hated putting her on house arrest, but it needed to be done.

"Girls..." Luna whispered, "You should attack soon."

"Right." Star whispered. She silently summoned her star staff and aimed for Shadow's head. With any luck, they'd be able to knock him out. If not...Xena had her spear ready.

It was odd, Star thought (hard as she tried to stay focused, the cold was making it hard to concentrate), that Xena-- who had created the Senshi itself-- Xena's only apparent power was that she healed extremely fast. Shouldn't have some awesome power? Or all the powers of the Senshi combined, even, since she _invented_ them? It was weird. But then, wasn't everything?

"Now's your--" Luna began, but Xena was gone in a flash, already taking the Shadow by surprise. Chaos ensued. "-- chance." She exchanged an exasperated glance with Star, then sighed and said "Well go on! Go after her!"

Star went after her, although she saw that Xena clearly didn't need help-- it was almost as if the cold had put her in her prime.

"Holy Christ-Chex!!" shouted the Shadow as he dodged a stabbing jab of Xena's spear. "Are you on a sugar-high or something?!" Xena spun, twirling the spear expertly over her head as she did. And Star was standing within range.

"Ah!" she squeaked, ducking so as not to be beheaded by her best friend ('cause that would kinda _suck_...), and shouted "Hey! Xena! Could we cool it with the psycho-killer-with-a-spear bit?!"

"Sorry!" said Xena, sounding more excited and happy than apologetic, and not stopping her attack on the Shadow to look at Emma. "I'm just so-- I don't know!" Xena, now turned to look at Star, used the butt of the spear to whack the Shadow in the head, knocking him momentarily to the ground. "Maybe it's the cold, but... I don't know," she said again.

"_Are_ you on a sugar-high?" asked Star.

"Good God, I think you broke my face!" yelled the Shadow from the ground.

"Honey, it was already broken," Star said.

"Your ass is next if you don't shut up." warned Xena. "So what do you think it is?"

"I dunno..." Star shrugged. "Y'know, when Sam and I got serious, many moons ago, I always felt like I was invincible. Like I had all the power of the Senshi in me, and then some. _So_," Star fixed Xena with a playfully serious stare, "how are things with _Koki_?"

Xena's face turned a slight shade of pink-- though it could have been from the cold-- and she answered awkwardly, "We're fine."

"I think you guys are so cute together. He's good for you," Star said, and she started ticking off different reasons on her fingers. "He's not involved in the Senshi, so he won't be in danger, he's a feminist, which is good 'cause you'd probably rip him a new one if he started treated you like a little damsel in distress all the time, and--" Star hesitated.

"He's not an insane stalker who memorizes my schedule, has names picked out for our kids and jumps on people's backs?" Xena suggested.

"Uh...yeah..."

"If you're going to talk about boys all night, I'd like to request that you'd kill me now."

"Shut up!" Xena and Star snapped at once.

"Girls!" Luna was standing over by the bushes. "Not the time!"

"Okay, fine," Xena raised her spear above her head, ready to stab, but Star grabbed her wrist and said "No! We've got to take him back to R-- Mars' place." They both looked down at the Shadow, and saw that...he wasn't there.

"Ladies?"

Xena and Star turned around, and saw that the Shadow was behind them, looking not all weak or wounded (although there was quite a dent in the mask from Xena's spear rock on), but looking more...kick-your-ass-y.

Xena rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Oh, shi--"

"See what you've done?" shouted Luna. "Get him!"

Star, being the less stab-y and kill-y of the two, aimed a low-energy Star Sphere at him, trying to knock him out, while pushing Xena back with her foot against her stomach.

"Hey! Do you have any idea what this costs to dry clean?!" she yelled.

"Sorry!" Star said, putting her foot back on the ground. "Okay, here's what we do--"

"GIRLS!" Luna screamed, they turned around to see Shadow running off into the woods. "YOU LOSE HIM AND YOU'RE RUNNING SUICIDES TOMORROW, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF IT'S CHRISTMAS!!"

"She's serious isn't she?" Star asked. Xena nodded.

"RUN!" she screamed. They both ran off in the direction that Shadow went it. Luckily, he hadn't run far, so that soon he was in clear sight. Soon they ran into a clearing, where The Silver Shadow suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"Don't tell me-," Xena started.

"He stood us up again!" Star complained. Xena almost agreed, until she heard a rustle in the bushes.

"Shh," she hushed Star up. "Get behind me, ready to attack." Star did as she was told, putting the Star Staff in front of her. Every few seconds they would hear a rustle in a different section of the woods. Star took a few steps forward and began to walk around. "What the hell are you-?" Xena started when Star screamed as the Shadow jumped out of no where.

The Silver Shadow began to punch at her, but Star blocked his fist with her staff. After a few minutes of this, Shadow finally grabbed the staff as Star threw it up and ripped it from her hands and threw it behind him.

'_Oh no…'_ Xena thought as Star's biggest power source was ripped away from her. Star put up a good fight. She jumped up and round house kicked him in the neck (Oh. _What_.). He almost fell over, but managed to keep his balance. He punched her in the stomach and which threw her against a tree that was right behind her. He wrapped on hand around her neck. "NO!" Xena screamed, running forward.

Star clawed at his hand as her face began to turn blue. Star clenched her teeth, but managed to bring her leg up, and kick him in the chest, throwing him back a couple of feet She fell to the ground gasping for air. Shadow got up and glared, pulling out one of his bladed boomerangs. He went to lunge for her .

"NO" Xena threw her arms out, out of pure instinct, as if reaching for Star. Shadow had almost sliced Star with the blade when a golden barrier surrounded her, throwing Shadow back about a hundred feet, making him unconscious. Star looked up at Xena, who looked at her hands. "_That's _newThat wasn't your barrier was it….."

"No…." Star said, still catching her breath. "Mine is yellow. And I didn't send one up. I was too busy not breathing." Xena looked at her hands again.

"Wow….."

"What the FRIED EGGS was THAT?!" yelled the Shadow, groaning and getting to his feet. "When they said 'Girl Power' they were NOT. KIDDING."

"Ha!" laughed Xena. "You should see us when we're PMSing."

Star giggled, glancing over Xena's shoulder into the trees. Her face instantly changed. "Look out!"

Xena turned to see a man in his late-twenties-early-thirties spring from the foliage, broadsword drawn. Xena held out her spear to stop him, but saw with shock that her spear was now a broadsword, the handle black and the blade inlaid with swirling gold designs. "What the f--?!"

"Oooh, Luna's gonna _killyou_…" Star said.

"How the hell did I do that?!"

"I don't know but you might wanna puzzle it out later-- DUCK!!"

Xena ducked and narrowly avoided decapitation. Star moved to help, but suddenly the Shadow was up and about again, and he'd grabbed her wrist, pulling her away.

"HEY! TAKEN, PAL!" she yelled, kicking at him. He dodged her, but let her go, readying himself for her attack. She complied by shooting a _non_-low-energy Star Sphere in his direction.

Meanwhile, Xena was engaged in what was probably the fiercest battle she'd been in so far in her Senshi experience. No matter how much she ducked, parried, thrust, or twirled, she couldn't find an opening to attack him.

He was an expert warrior. Almost as good as Akusin. His shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled into a halfback, kept out of his eyes, which were dark-- black, it looked like. He was about as tall as Akusin, and his face betrayed no emotion, making it impossible for her to guess his next move.

"Hey, Xe, lend a girl a hand?" Star shouted across the clearing, now in hand-to-hand combat with Shadow.

"Hey, Star, see a girl is busy?" Xena shot back, blocking one of her opponent's more forceful attacks.

Xena's opponent's sword cut through the air nearly taking Xena's head. She fell to the ground and brought her leg up, kicking him and flipping him over. She took a momentary glance at Star and Shadow. Star was lacking her normal power, still a little wiped from being nearly strangled to death. She still hadn't retrieved her Staff, not that she had the chance to.

Xena got up and found her opponent standing a few feet away, panting. He looked at her with such menace in his eyes, with a smirk.

"Somehow I don't think you've had enough." Xena said coldly, listening carefully as Star fought just a few feet away.

"I know you could easily kill me," he said, "but your denial just weighs you down."

"Denial?" Xena asked, with one eyebrow raised above her mask.

"Your denial of fate." Xena frowned. "I still don't see how your parents didn't kill you because of that." Just as he said that there was a blast of golden light.

Star heard the other guy's last comment and quickly hit Shadow with a powerful kick to the groin. He fell down, looked over at where Xena was and gasped.

Xena was in full blown warrior princess mode, like she had been only about six or seven months prior. Only this time, there was no controling the goddess' power. She was completely gone. This was not Meggie, or Sailor Xena. This was Xena, the one that destroyed Prince Diamond.

Giant gusts of winds blew around as Xena rose into the air , streams of blasting power flying everywhere. Star had to duck, saving her own life.

"She going to kill us all..." Star whispered to herself. She looked at Xena's opponent, who was trying to shield himself. She jumped over the still cowering Shadow, who was rolling on the ground, completely oblivious to his surroundings. She ran to her Staff that had been left at the far edge of the clearing and grabbed it. In a last ditch attempt to save herself and Meggie, even if it meant letting the bad guys live too, she aimed at Xena and brought forth all the energy she could muster, without exhausting herself to the point of unconsiousness, and blasted Xena.

The goddess went flying and hit a rather large Sakura tree, immediately powering down and turning back into Meggie on impact. Star ran over, just as Shadow was finally getting back on his feet. She looked Meggie over, checking her pulse to make sure she hadn't killed the girl. Letting out the breath she'd been holding to find that she was okay, she turned on Shadow and his partner.

"You see what kinda power I can pull through, bastards?" she seethed at them. Shadow was still hunched over a little, and walking funny and his partner in crime was bloody, burnt and bruised. " I am Victory, bitches. Now take what's left of you," Star looked at Shadow, though she couldn't see, his face was probably scrunched up in in the most amusing way, his hands a still covering where he was kicked, "and get the hell out of here."

The older man decided to not take her warning and he tried approach only to be blocked off by a large yellow barrier. "You're lucky a barrier is all I can manage right now."

"Mordae..." Shadow said in his disfigured voice, used to hide his true identity, "Let's go. We can fight another day."

The man, who was now known as Mordae, scowled. He knew there was no way to get through that barrier, even if he had the energy to continue fighting.

"Foolish girls." Mordae spat on the ground and walked away, Shadow hobbling after him.

After she was sure they were gone, Star finally let down the barrier, but not powering down in case they decided to return. Luna came running out of the bushes and to their side.

"Is she okay?" the feline asked.

"As okay as she can be after that. I really blasted her. It was the only thing I could think of."

"Gabriella warned me about this." Luna said.

"Well, we gotta get her home. We have some serious first aide to do." Star replied. She used the last bit of her strength to hoist Meggie up, over her shoulders. Meggie was considerabley taller than her, which made it a bit akward for Star to carry her, but there was no other way to get her out of the woods.

They started for the streets again. As they came out onto the deserted sidewalk, Star reached for her necklace.

"Don't take it--" Luna began, but too late. Star had removed her necklace, civilianized again, and with the Senshi strength gone, she crumpled to the ground under Meggie's weight. "--off." She sighed. "Fine. Do it the hard way. You get Meggie home; I'm going to go tell Serena and Rei about this right away. This could tell us a lot of things about Xena and her powers." Luna scampered off.

"Thanks," Emma called after her sarcastically. "You go do that, Luna. I'll just stay here. Stuck under a very tall She-Warrior of Good and blah. Ow..." Emma groaned. She really hated this job. She started trying to push Meggie off so she could get up when she heard a familiar voice.

"Emma!" Kyo came running down the street.

"Kyo? I thought you were at your Aunt's," Emma said as Kyo reached them.

"Yeah, I just got back and there was a message on the machine from Darien. He said you guys were out on a mission. What happened to Meggie?"

"I Star Sphered her."

"You WHAT?"

"I'll explain when I can breathe; a little help, please?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Kyo said, helping her get out from under Meggie then picking the unconscious girl up bridal style. "This is cool," he observed as Emma brushed dirt off of herself.

"What is?"

"I miss the fight, but I still get to be incredibly macho."

Emma flailed her arm in his direction as if trying to swat at him. "Nnngh!" she groaned. "Too tired to beat you up."

"This just keeps getting cooler and cooler."

"C'mon, we better get her home." Emma started down the street. Kyo followed, with Luna at his heels.

"How did the fight go?"

"Nngh. Don't ask. I don't think I can talk right now." Emma paused to lean back until she heard her back crack (teehee. rhyme.) "Ah. Much better."

"So..." Kyo said as they resumed walking. "I bet you _Koki _doesn't carry her home after she's been knocked unconscious."

"If he has, he dies very soon by Josh's hand."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And I'M the one you're all worried about?!" Kasadi demanded as Emma and Kyo came through the door to the balcony, an out-cold Meggie in his arms.

"Kas, shut up." Emma said, crossing the room and poking her head out into the hall. "Coast is clear. Okay, Kyo, set her down on her bed and try and get her to wake up. Kasadi, get the first aid kit from the bathroom. I'm gonna go get some cold water." She slipped out into the hall, Kasadi right behind her.

Kyo gently laid Meggie down on her bed, and tried to wipe away a trickled of blood from a small gash in her forehead that was already healing.

He lifted her head gently, placing an extra pillow behind it. "Okay..." he said to himself. "Try to wake her up. Let's see..." He took her face in his hands and gently patted her cheek, softly saying "Uh, Meggie? Time to wakey-upy. Meggie, come on. This getting yourself knocked unconscious thing is getting old. Not that I don't mind being macho and having to carry you home and everything, but if you're in a coma you won't be able to go to New York tomorrow, and then we won't get to not-stage-kiss and then we won't have international witnesses!" He leaned closer to her. "Meggie, come on. You're a kick-ass warrior. This is nothing!"

Down in the kitchen, Emma was filling a popcorn bowl halfway full with cool water. She grabbed a clean dish towel out of the cupboard and started towards the stairs. Kasadi was coming down them. "Hey," she said, "First Aid kit's not in the bathroom."

"Check the kitchen."

Kasadi dashed in and found it on the counter. "Kay, got it," she said, joining Emma on the stairs.

Suddenly, the scrape of a key in the lock came from the front door.

Emma turned slowly on the spot so as not to slosh water everywhere as the front door opened. "Oh, _shi_-- Hi Mommy!!"

As Hotaka and Beth hung up their coats, Beth eyes her daughter and niece suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Emma answered quickly. _Feel free to jump in here any time Kasadi._

"Uh-huh," said Beth. She studied them for a moment. "Where's the third Musketeer?"

"She, uh, she went to bed early." Emma said. "Santa's coming soon, you know." She elbowed Kasadi in the ribs, clearly communicating _FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN _NOW_, KASADI_.

"Uh, yeah, right. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

Emma closed her eyes, wishing she had a free hand to smack herself in the forehead. _Kas-a-diiii_...

"What's the matter with you two? You act like she's got a boy up there."

"No!" Emma assured her mother a little too quickly. She composed herself and started over. "No, of course not. She's not that kind of girl, you know that."

"Yeah, you're right." Beth and Hotaka started up the stairs. They paused when they reached them. "Good night," Beth said, kissing them each on the forehead, "Merry Christmas, and Kasadi, lay off the eggnog."

"My eggnog." Hotaka said threateningly as they continued up the stairs.

"Oh, and Emma," Beth asked when they reached the top of the steps, turning to look down at them, "What's the water and the towel for?"

"Oh, uh, I spilled some soda in my room."

"Okay, make sure you get it before it sets. Good night girls."

"'Night Mom!"

"'Night Aunt Beth!"

They were gone. Emma turned to Kasadi. "_'Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse?'_"

"Uh...I panicked?"

"Okay, let's go see if Kyo woke her up yet."

Back in Meggie's room, Kyo still had her face in his hands, gently shaking her. "C'mon, Meggie. You really have to wake up now." He was trying to be quiet, so his face was close to hers. "Meggie...Meggie, wake up..."

She made a soft groaning sound and her eyes slowly opened. "Ow..." she managed to say groggily. She suddenly noticed that Kyo's face was barely an inch from hers. She didn't say anything, and she didn't move.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly. "You took quite a blow to the head." he told her, brushing his fingers against said head injury.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think so...How did I get home?"

"I caught up with you guys just as Emma started dragging you back. I, uh, carried you here."

Neither of them had moved yet. Meggie was becoming uncomfortably aware that she could smell his breath. "You smell like Fruit Roll-Ups," she commented. He smiled.

"GOD, Kyo, will you just GIVE IT UP already?!" hissed Emma.

Acting purely on impulse (and a wee bit of self-loathing), Meggie pushed-- practically kicked-- Kyo off of her, yelling at him for being a pervert.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't realize...So you feel okay? Not dizzy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Meggie said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She pressed a few fingers to the wound in her head and looked at the blood on them.

"Here," Emma said, dipping part of the towel in the bowl and handing it to her. Meggie pressed it to the gash with only a small hiss of pain.

"Scoot," Kasadi said to Kyo, making him move down so she could sit next to Meggie. She opened the First Aid kit on her lap and began digging through it for bandages.

"Kas, these are going to be gone by morning..." Meggie said, looking as Kasadi pulled out bandages and some anti-biotic ointment.

"You can still get an infection. Which you don't need if we're going to NYC tomorrow night." Kasadi replied as she put some of the ointments on a cotton swab and dabbed it on her wounds.

"Owwww!" Meggie jerked away as it stung.

"Baby." Kasadi growled as she grabbed Meggie's chin to keep her still.

"What's exactly happened?" Meggie asked, wincing at the stingy-ness of the ointment.

"Well, _you_ went princess mode. BIG TIME." Emma explained.

"_Huh?_"

"Imagine Inuyasha when his youkai blood takes over wearing a skirt, and that was you."

"WHOA. First of all, scary mental image, second of all-- are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Emma said, "I had to blast you into that gigantic Sakura tree. It is no more."

"Daaaaaaaaaamn..." Meggie replied, "Wait...you _blasted _me? As in _Star Sphere_ blasted?"

"You were about to blow the two assholes, _me _**and **_yourself_ up." Emma said. "I figured you'd appreciate living."

"Oh right...there was that other guy this time..."

"Other guy?" Kasadi and Kyo asked at the same time.

"His name is Mordae...At least that's what Shadow called him." Emma explained, "Serious badass skills there. You nearly had him until he mentioned your parents."

"Can we _not_ talk about them?" Meggie said coldly.

"Uh...Meggie? You're starting to glow. I suggest you...ya know...calm the heck down?" Kasadi said tentively.

"What?" Meggie looked down at her fists, which were giving off a glow-in-the-dark sort of golden light. "Oh. Uh...sorry. This is so weird."

"Luna went straight to Serena and Rei to tell them. We'll figure it out." Emma gripped Meggie's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry."

"Thanks, Em. And you two, Kas. Even though you are a torture artist."

"A-_hem_?"

"You too, perv."

"I'll take it."

Suddenly, Meggie's pocket began to hum. She fished her cell phone out and looked at the caller ID. "It's Koki." Kyo made a disgusted noise.

"Goodbye, Kyo," Emma said, pulling Kyo to his feet and dragging him to the door out to the balcony.

"See you tomorrow." Kyo said, hopping down off the balcony with the ease and grace that only Tuxedo Mask (Jr.) could have. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked off, grumbling, "Betcha _Koki_ won't see her tomorrow. And for the next _month and a half_ in New York City." He stopped and did what Emma could only describe as the Ellen Dance. "Ha." he said, resuming walking, a little bounce in his step.

"Oh, he is _so_ gay." Emma said to herself. And they were all gonna have to put up with him. In New York City. For a month and a half. "Dammit."


	20. Lessons in PMS

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 19

Emma sighed peacefully in her sleep as she cuddled further into her covers. She was so deep in sleep that she didn't even here her door squeak when it opened. Nor, did she hear the pair of feet tip toeing across the floor. She didn't even stir when those feet hit the loose floor board, which squeakes terribly when stepped on.

Yes world. She was that out of it.

Through all of this Emma slept soundly. Until the owner of those two feet suddenly jumped on the bed repeatedly screaming "WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!" Emma screamed, throwing her hand out, causing her Star Staff to materialize in her grip. She pointed the staff at her attacker and nearly blasted Kasadi's head off.

"HEY HEY HEY!" Kasadi quickly jumped off the bed. "Put that away! You're going to kill somebody...NAMELY ME!" After Emma was aware of what was happening, she dematerialized her staff and sat up.

"Are you INSANE!?" Emma scolded, "You do NOT sneak up on me sleeping. _Especially_, since I am made up of the searing light energy of about three million stars all wrapped up in one sleep deprived super hero!"

"Merry Christmas?" Kasadi said uncertainly. Emma sighed and rubbed her head.

"Sorry" Emma said. "I didn't sleep well last night."

"Obviously, Ma_dame_ PMS." Kasadi said. "Your mom told me to wake you up. You have to go to Christmas Mass before your Aunts and Uncles show up."

Emma groaned. She really didn't feel like going to church. But, her parents went to a party so they didn't go to Christmas Eve Mass. She would have gone with Josh, but there was that battle...

"Come one. Get up." Kasadi grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her up. "You have an hour."

"What about presents?" Emma asked.

"Aunt Beth wants to wait until after church, when your family gets here."

"Okay," Emma got up and stretched, "let's go see if Meggie's in a coma."

"Can I jump on _her_ bed?"

"Uh...I'm gonna hafta say no." Kasadi pouted. Emma turned her around and steered her out to the hallway. "With her new freakish powers, she'd probably blow you through the roof."

"Right. Rain check."

Meggie's door opened suddenly and she strode out fully dressed. "Shut up, the both of you." she said in that I-am-so-annoyed-at-you-guys-but-what-the-hell-still-love-ya voice that she does so well.

"Apparently those powers came with the full superhero package?" Emma asked, smiling and leaning on Kasadi's shoulder and whispering to her cousin "And you thought _I_ was PMS-ing?"

"Yeah, my Spidey senses were tingling all right." Meggie said angrily, storming past them towards the stairs. "And I heard that, by the way."

"Hey what's wrong?" Emma and Kasadi, with a quick look at each other, followed her.

"Nothing."

"Meggie." they said in unison.

Meggie suddenly whipped around and said, looking so mad she was quite scary, "You wanna know what's wrong? I'll SHOW you what's wrong." She went past them, back up the stairs and into her room. Emma and Kasadi followed. Meggie pointed to the window, where somebody had drawn a heart with their finger and an arrow through it.

"Is he mentally retarded or something?!" Meggie demanded. "Seriously! It's been nearly two years!! When are the Hobbits finally going to get through Mordor to the center of his thick head so they can cast the Ring into it and he finally gets it!! **I. AM NOT. INTERESTED!!**" She finished in a scream, breathing heavily after her rant, while Emma and Kasadi stood there, wide-eyed and, they only just realize, very dangerously close to her. Okay, back away slowly from the nice crazy person...

"What's Mordor?" Kasadi finally broke the silence.

"Lord of the Rings, sweetie." Emma said. "You know, the big mountain?" Kasadi's blank look was an evident 'no.' "Just pretend you do."

"I can do that." They turned back to Meggie, who had opened the window and was using the sleeve of her dark green sweater, pulled down over her hand, to wipe off the heart from the outside of the glass.

"Uh, Meg?" Emma ventured as Meggie closed the window, having sufficiently gone NCIS on the evidence's ass.

"Yeah?" Meggie wiped off the frost on her jeans.

"Meggie, why are you freaking out about this?" Emma asked, cautiously stepping closer.

"It's Kyo being an idiot. We always freak out."

"Yeah, when it's something like the Rockininin Party," Emma agreed, with a quick "Don't ask," to Kasadi, "but not when it's something like drawing a heart on your window."

"Oh, the heart on the window isn't the only thing that the moron did!" Meggie said picking up her cell phone and tossing it to Emma. "Look at the recieved call list."

Emma looked at the list, with Kasadi peering over her shoulder.

KYO (7:00 am)

KYO (6:35 am)

KYO (6:00 am)

KYO (5:32 am)

KYO ( 5:01 am)

KYO (4:34 am)

KYO (4:00 am)

KYO (3:30 am)

KYO (3:01 am)

KYO (2:32 am)

KYO (2:00 am)

KYO ( 1:35 am)

KOKI (1:30 am)

"He called you every half hour!?" Emma exclaimed.

"Almost _to the minute_."

"Why!?"

"He said something about a concussion and waking people up, or some crap like that. I was too angry to pay attention." Meggie explained.

"THAT'S RIGHT!," Kasadi smacked herself in the forehead. "You are supposed to wake up someone who has a head injury every half hour or so to make sure they actually _do_ wake up. Because they can develop a concussion and die in their sleep. "

Emma was about to say something when Meggie's phone rang in her hand. Emma had to laugh at the ringtone, which was a sound clip from Monty Python's Holy Grail of a bunch of people yelling "RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!"

Meggie growled, grabbed the phone and yelled, "I'M UP, YOU MORON! STOP CALLING ME!" She closed the phone and threw it on her bed. "See what I mean?"

"Well,we all know he's crazy about you, Meg. It's norm now." Emma replied, brushing a stray curl out of her face.

"How did he know to call you?" Emma asked.

"Probably because he's gotten a few too many knocks on the head himself..." Meggie grumbled.

"He was just looking out for you, Meggie." Kasadi said, trying to defend Kyo, since he wasn't there to defend himself. Which was typical Kasadi behavior.

"She's right, Meggie." Emma agreed.

"Yeah, well I think that he needs to grow up and get himself a boyfriend!" Meggie snapped, tugging the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands and folding her arms as if she was cold.

Kasadi snorted. Emma looked at her with a stern you-are-not-helping look. "What?" Kasadi shrugged. "That was pretty funny."

Emma, rolling her eyes, turned back to Meggie. "Okay, Katsuro's the only one who ever makes cracks about Kyo's sexual orientation. What's up with you, Meg?"

Meggie tugged at her sweater as if she thought it was too small--a sure sign that she was nervous about something.

"Meggie?" Kasadi ventured. "Why are you making such a mountain out of a molehill?"

"Yeah," Emma agreed. "I mean, it's not like there's any hope for Kyo." Kasadi went to say something, but Emma elbowed her in the gut. "You've got Koki. Sooner or later he'll realize that he has no chance and he'll move on. Right?"

"I--he--I'm not--molehills--" Meggie couldn't seem to be able to decide how to phrase whatever she was trying to say. Emma and Kasadi raised their eyebrows at her odd behavior, and she finally shouted "Maybe the molehill was asking for it!!" And she stormed out of the room.

Emma and Kasadi looked at each other, and said in unison "PMS."

"Heard that," Meggie said, going down the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About two hours later, they all returned from Church, and all they had to do was wait for the family to arrive. Beth was running around the house, trying to get everything ready. She was putting food in the oven and setting out trays of goodies for everyone. Emma, Meggie and Kasadi sat on the couch watching the normally calm and serene college professor run around like a headless chicken. It was amusing.

Josh and Mina showed up first. They came in from the snow with two large bags of gifts, smiling.

"Hey, Em. Look what Mom and Dad got me!" Josh smiled evilly holding up a package that read _Super Spy Kit _in bold green letters. "Now what on Earth could I use _this_ for? Hmmmm." The next twenty minutes for Meggie, Mina and Kasadi, were watching Emma wrestle Josh for the kit.

"This is funnier than that time that Kyo swallowed the Monopoly piece!" Mina said, wondrous.

"He swallowed a Monopoly piece?!" Kasadi exclaimed quietly. "What happened?"

"It was not pretty." Mina said.

Meggie shook her head disbelievingly, muttering, "He just _had_ to have the wheelbarrel."

There was a deep creaking sound accompanied by a whistling as the front door opened in the front hall, letting in the noise of the wind outside, and as it thudded shut, a man called "Hello Hanzos!!" and at least two high-pitched voices squealed "JoooOOOOoooooOOOOOooossshhh!!"

Two small girls, identical to one another, came tearing into the room, still wearing their heavy winter gear, headed straight for Josh--Emma immediately dove out of the way.

"Oh, _shi_--" Josh began as the two four-year-olds hit him like mini linebackers and he landed flat on his back, knocking the wind right out of him.

Mina ran across the room and pulled the two girls off of him and kneeled down next to him. "Josh!" she said, waving a hand in front of his blank, staring eyes. "Josh! Answer me right now!"

Josh opened his mouth, and though at first no noise came out, he finally managed to say "--_tah_."

"What's shi-tah?" asked one of the little girls.

"Nothing, Ayame." Emma said. "Gimme a hug, munchin!" She opened her arms and the two little girls, her cousins, twins Ayame and Kori, gave ran into them and hugged her tightly.

Emma's mom suddenly came into the room and said "Come on, Uncle Ichiro's here, kids! Oh, Josh! Get off the floor--you'll ruin that shirt," and she bustled out again.

"No Mom. I'm fine." Josh said in a flat voice. "Don't worry. No, we don't need an ambulance. Seriously, Mom, you're embarassing me. I'm okay, really. Just my psychotic cousins--my Mitrow blood prepares me for that. Stop, Mom. I mean it. You're so ridiculous."

"You done?" Mina asked.

"Yup."

Mina held out her hand and helped him pull himself up off the floor. She comfortingly put her arm around his waist. "Ouch," he said, cracking his back and putting his arm around her shoulders. "Gee, can't wait until _they're_ PMS-ing."

As Ayame and Kori ran out of the room and into the kitchen to let their aunt and uncle hug them and kiss them and tell them how much they'd grown (though they kept a close eye on that themselves), Mina helped Josh up, and Emma, Kasadi, and Meggie hung back to wait for them, so they'd all have to enter the kitchen together. Teenagers gotta stick together, after all.

But Uncle Ichiro wasn't all that bad--it was Aunt Manami that was torture. She was the aunt that would pinch their cheeks and wouldn't shut up about "how much you've grown!" Ichiro mostly just would ask Emma about "the Boy" and tell Josh that Mina must be blind or he'd paid her, and that was the end of his Uncle Obligations. After that, he was like one of the gang. At least they knew what to expect.

It wasn't what they got. When they entered the kitchen, Emma's parents were there, all right. So were the twins. And Ichiro. But Ichiro had his arm around the shoulders of a short, very pretty woman, with hair that was more like a wall of black silk than anything, cascading down her back, falling almost to her waist. She had part of it pulled away from her face and twisted elegantly, with stylish Christmas-themed barretts holding them in place. She wore a cream-colored, thick-knit, turtleneck sweater that complimented her soft, rounded features nicely.

"Hi," she said brightly, sounding very friendly. "I'm Yoko." Keeping her smile in place, she turned to Ichiro and said "Well, looks like you didn't tell _any_body about me, hm?"

Ichiro smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I wanted to surprise them. Kids," he said as he put his other arm around Yoko as well, "Yoko's my girlfriend."

Emma stepped forward and extended her hand to Yoko, who shook it. "I'm Emma. The cute one."

"Josh--the normal one." He shot Emma a knowing, sly look. She rolled her eyes. Old news. Very old. "This is Mina Aino, my girlfriend."

"I'm Meggie, and this is Kasadi," Meggie provided. "We're basically adopted."

Yoko laughed. "Quite the Brady Bunch you've got here!"

"We prefer 'Justice League.'" Meggie said.

The sounds of the front door being opened and shut were heard again. Sam came into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas," Sam greeted everyone, putting an arm around Emma's shoulders. She put an arm around his waist.

"Speaking of, here's my Lois Lane," Emma said, brushing snow out of his hair. Everyone laughed.

"That's not his _real _name, is it?" Yoko asked jokingly.

"Sam Tsukino."

"Better known around here as 'The Boy,'" Josh said.

Yoko's face lit up with understanding. "Oh, yeah. Okay, now I know who you are."

Sam passed a hand over his eyes, groaning. Emma patted his chest comfortingly.

"So who else is coming today?" Ichiro asked Hotaka.

"Um...Osamu, Kin, all the kids, and I think Manami and the kids are coming, too."

Josh and Emma shot each other nervous glances. Not Aunt Manami!!

"Do you want to wait for them or open presents now?" Ichiro asked.

After loud exclamations from all the kids, Beth said "I think now would be safest."

As they all stampeded out of the kitchen (the twins in the lead), the phone rang.

"Emma, could you get that?" Beth asked, already in the living room.

"Yeah, Mom." Emma grabbed the kitchen phone off the wall. "Hanzo Residence."

"Emma? Hi, it's...it's Koki."

"Hey Koki. Lemme get Meggie for you."

"Uh, no--no, that's okay. I'll just...I'll call her cell later. Bye."

"Okay-- Hey, merry--" But he'd already hung up. "--Christmas... Huh." She looked at Sam then hung up the phone. "That was weird."

"Who was it?" asked Sam.

Meggie came in, looking much more cheerful than she had only that morning. "Hey, come on, you two! I hung mistletoe in the living room doorway, so as soon as Yoko and Ichiro move, you guys can kiss without getting the hormone talk!" She waited, but they didn't say anything. "Uh, you're _welcome_?"

"Meggie, that was Koki just now, on the phone. Did you two have a fight or something?"

Meggie avoided their eyes and asked, sounding very calm and normal, "Why? Did he seem mad?"

"No, just...weird. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. He just called me really early in the morning, and I was a little short with him because of 'Dr. Kyo.'"

"Wait--what did Kyo do now?" asked Sam.

"He called me **every half hour**, to make sure I wasn't _dead!_"

"...Oh. Well. Uh...Why did he think you were dead?"

"Head injury."

"Well, we all knew that--" Emma elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!" He rubbed his side, wincing but laughing nervously. "I mean... Ah."

"So anyway, Koki called me and I was tired and pissed at phones in general, and... He had asked me what was wrong, and I told him that Kyo kept calling me, and that opened up a whole new can of worms, and just..." Meggie fidgeted with her sweater again. "I'll call him back later."

"Okay." Emma said.

Just then, the twins ran in, yelling something about a present for Emma and proceeded to drag her away. Meggie and Sam followed behind them.

In the hallway, Sam tapped Meggie on the shoulder, saying softly "Hey."

"What?" she asked, turning.

"Listen...Kyo's my best friend. Him and Katsuro. And Kats and me...we know him pretty well. He just wants to be around you, Meg. He may be an idiot, but he's our idiot, and like it or not, he's your idiot. And I think that no matter what happens, part of him will always be your idiot. So just...don't be too hard on him. Kay?"

Meggie didn't respond at first. She studied her smiling friend, and slowly she nodded. He smiled wider and joined the others in the living room. Emma was lucky to have such a great guy. Someone she knew she could spend the rest of her life happily with. Someone not clinically insane, or someone who was in danger constantly whenever he was with her--didn't even know it. Maybe she could...no, that was crazy. But she knew that it could quite possibly be the right thing to do...the only thing to do. She could put it off for as long as she wanted, but it was going to happen sooner or later. She hoped Koki could deal with it. Well, he'd have to.

She shook her head, attempting to clear the chaos. She put her cheerful smile back in place, and just in time--Kasadi came bounding over, squealing over the clothing design software Beth and Hotaka had gotten her. Meggie acted excited for her, then excused herself.

"I'll be back in just a minute," she promised.

"What's the matter? You feel sick?"

"No, I just...need to tell Koki something." She hurried upstairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time Meggie returned downstairs, all of the Hanzo Aunts and Uncles and Cousins had shown up. Manami, Hotaka's oldest sister, was their lovey-dovey aunt. She was also the mother of Ran. Emma's oldest cousin on her dad's side, who was also previously known as the she-bitch.

Ran had matured immensely, creating a mostly-friendly bond between she and Emma. So, the entire Hanzo clan was crowded around the living room, enjoying post-present splendor.

Meggie and Kasadi were playing with the little ones, while the adults talked. Emma and Sam were outside in the snow, until they suddenly came running in.

"UNCLE ICHIRO!" Emma screamed. Ichiro jumped up from his spot next to Yoko at her scream.

"What!?"

"You'll never believe who just pulled in!" Emma growled

."Who?" Ichiro asked. Just as he said that, a tall thin woman walked in frm behind her. She was a gorgeous woman with deep brown eyes and jet black hair cut just below her chin.

Everyone in the Hanzo family looked at the woman with their jaws dropped. Though it wasn't because of her breath taking beauty.

"Sumiko?" Ichiro asked.

"Hello, Ichiro." Sumiko smiled elegantly.

"What are you doing here?" Ichiro asked, now not so shocked, but irritated.

"I got the paperwork." Sumiko said with a frown.

"Daddy!" Two identical voices called. "Dad-_dy!_" Ichiro looked over his shoulder, where the voices were coming from the kitchen. Sumiko stepped forward.

"The girls?" she asked.

"Yes." Ichiro replied.

"Daddy!" Ayame and Kori ran in. Ayame stood with her hands on her hips and glaring, "Daddy, We asked Josh very, _very _nicely if he would get the cookie jar off the top the fridge, and he wouldn't. And then Kori started crying, and I told Josh to get the damn cookies-,"

"Kori!" Sumiko snapped, "Don't speak like that ever again!" Ayame blinked at the woman who had snapped at her.

"Who're you?" Ayame asked.

"Ayame, be polite." Ichiro warned. Sumiko looked at Ichiro and then back at Ayame.

"Oops." She whispered quietly.

"And you're mother is right, you shouldn't speak like that." Ichiro added.

"My mother? Yoko didn't say anything." Ayame replied. Sumiko's head snapped and glared at Ichiro.

"_Yoko_?" Sumiko seethed, barely above a whisper, but everyone could hear because the entire room was dead silent. "Ichiro, we are still married, and you are off filandering with some hussy you barely know-."

"HOLD IT!" Ichiro yelled. "_You,_ Sumiko have no right to talk. _You_ are the one who left the country three years ago, leaving me to believe that you signed the divorce papers that were served to you the same time the custody papers were. _You_, are the one who is aimed to make my life miserable, because you got word from one of our old friends that I was dating again. _YOU,_ are the one who barged into my** brother's** house uninvited to ruin everyone's Christmas. And if you've finally decided you want to be a mother, it's your own damn fault that you terminated your parental rights to _my_ twins. If it weren't for the fact that my lawyer told me three months ago that you never signed the divorce papers, I would be buying an engagement ring right now, and drawing up adoption papers as well, because for the past year, Yoko has been more of the mother Ayame and Kori need than you had when they were born."

"I carried them for nine months and gave birth to them! I am their mother!" Sumiko yelled.

"You hated being pregnant because you got stretch marks, that from what i have seen from your bikin shoot, you had removed by laser surgery." Ichiro retorted. "If it wasn't for whatever was going through your head when you didn't sign the divorce papers, we both would have moved on! Now DAMMIT, sign the papers and get the hell out of my brother's house."

Sumiko just blinked at Ichiro. "Heeeeey." A small voice piped up. Everyone looked at the twins, but this time, Ayame wasn't the one who was speaking, Kori was. "He gets to say damn."

"Ho-kay, I better get the little ones out of the PMS crossfire..." Emma chuckled nervously, putting a hand on each of the girls' backs and steering them out of the room. "Hey girls, how about we all go play that Candyland game you just got from Santa?"

"Oh, speaking of--I left your present upstairs, Em," Meggie said. "Be right back." She dashed upstairs as the others went into the living room.

"Is your dork boyfriend going to play?" Kori asked.

"He's a hottie." Ayame corrected her.

As they took thir places around the coffee table in the living room, Sam retrieving the game from under the tree, Kori turned to Emma and asked. "...What's PMS?"

"Ask Meggie," Kasadi said jokingly.

"Heard that!" Meggie shouted down the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...And as soon as she signed the papers, my uncle held out Sumiko's coat and opened the door without saying one word." Josh finished the story of the days events at the annual Senshi party. Because, every one of the younger members of the senshi were leaving forf New York City for nearly a month and a half, it was also more of a going away party.

The entire senshi, plus significant others that actually knew about them, were all sitting around the table in the middle of Rei's livingroom talking. This was a more low-key party than previous years. It mostly involved popcorn, chips, pretzals and a whole lotta-

"Dammit!" Emma put her hands on her hips. "WHY the hell, does Mountain Dew keep disappearing on me!?"

"Maybe it's a sign, Emma." Sam replied. "Maybe the good lord just doesn't want you to fill your body with insane amounts of caffiene and sugar."

"Sam. You're not religious at all." Emma told him. "And if I wasn't supposed to have Mountain Dew, God wouldn't have made it!"

"Where's Kyo?" Kasadi asked.

_Outside in a tree_

" WOOO HOOO! What a rush!" Kyo screeched as he finished off the last bottle of Mountain Dew. " I'll be awake for DAYS!"

_Back inside._

"How about some Pepsi, you know that has just about half of the caffiene as Mountain Dew. Which means you can have two." Sam rubbed Emma's back as she pouted.

" Fine." Emma scowled, extremely pissed at her lack of caffiene-induced sugar-high. " Hit me."

"Who's PMS-ing _now_?" Meggie smirked.

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**A.N: Okay okay okay...we know. We're going to hell. we said..."YEAH! We'll post the next chapter Christmas Eve for sure and we'll start Senshi in the City Christmas DAY!!" and here we are seven months later.**

**again, we're going to hell.**

**IN our defense, we've been very busy. At the time of our promised postings, we were in midterms. And do you know what follows midterms?**

**FINALS.**

**Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.**

**Um, not.**

**And good news! Emma got a boyfriend!...IN REAL LIFE!! That also partly had something to do with our very very very very late posting...but it's mostly finals and school and all that jazz. Plus, Emma spent a month in Colorado with her sister...and there is also the strain of Writer's Block going around these days. It's so damn contagious.**

**Meggie's been pretty busy too. Also school for the most part. It's really Emma that's more guilty of the lagging than she is. (SSS: Sorry) But, here you go. Seven months late, here is Chapter 19! and following (we really promise this time) right behind it, is the first Chapter of Senshi in the City!**

**Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.**

**As of right now, Great Angel of Fire is on hold because of Senshi in the City. But considering it's much shorter than Great Angel, we'll be back in no time.**

**Once again, we're going to hell. we know. BUT YOU LOVE US ANYWAY!!**

**We hope you enjoyed. and if you noticed any familiar bits, tell us. You just might get a prize. (hint hint)**


	21. The Return Home

THE FOLLOWING AUTHOR'S NOTE WAS WRITTEN ON YAHOO MESSENGER, UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SUGAR IN VARIOUS FORMS INCLUDING SODA AND OREOS. READ FURTHER AT YOUR OWN RISK

AN:

Sailor Xena: Hey guys! Don't kill us!

Sailor Star: Yeah. What she said. Us dieing would kinda be bad...

Sailor Xena: Especially since it would mean no more stories for you guys to reeead...

Sailor Star: So, before you guys freak out, hear us out.

Sailor Xena: Okay, so as you know, we were going to take a break from Great Angel while we worked on the side story detailing the Gang's crazy adventures in New York, Senshi in the City.

Sailor Xena: But we had this crazy idea.

Sailor Star: Crazy idea induced by Rootbeer and brownies of course...

Sailor Xena: Is there any other kind?

Sailor Xena: So we decided that we are NOT going to write SITC at this time.

Sailor Star: SURPRISE!

Sailor Xena: We're going to finish Great Angel, and then take a short break to get back into the rhythm of school, make sure we don't stray behind on work, get off to a good start, and then while I work on SITC, Emma's going to start Universal Chaos.

Sailor Star: Yeah, you don't want us getting grounded for falling behind and not getting any updates at ALL would you?

Sailor Xena: So bottom line is:

Sailor Xena: Although you'll be confused just a bit at the beginning of Chapter 20, DON'T WORRY.

Sailor Xena: You'll get it by the end of the chapter, and we WILL go back and explain it ALL in SITC.

Sailor Xena: Okay?

-Silence-

Sailor Xena: OOOOkay then, Anything you want to add, Emma?

Sailor Star: Ummmmmmm...imma gonna go with NOPE

Sailor Xena: Okay, say goodbye, Emma.

Sailor Star: Goodbye Emma!

Sailor Xena: ...Smartass.

Sailor Star: Always D

Sailor Xena: So here's the rest of Great Angel, don't get too confused and we hope you like it!!

Sailor Xena: D

COHERENCY: MY ANTI-DRUG.

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Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 20

"Okay, if you have no idea who I am, then ignore this announcement--except for Kyo!" Ms. Nakamura called on the speaker phone on the plane. "Attention, my little chickadees--and our lovely chaperones! As you know, we are _finally_ about to land in Tokyo after a _16 hour flight_, and we're all itching to get off this plane and meet up with our loved ones. BUT, we are going to do this in an orderly fashion."

As Nakamura explained the exit procedure they'd be exacting--as if they hadn't all heard it from every single chaperone they'd ever had on every single field trip they'd ever had--some students began talking amongst themselves.

"...and Kasadi's hosting study group this week," Meggie finished. She and Kyo were both sitting sideways in their seats so as to talk to one another.

Kyo frowned. "And my parents are having Frey and everyone over for a Lotis thing." He sighed. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know." Meggie sat back in her seat and rubbed her eyes. "Oooh, I'm getting a migraine."

"Hey," Kyo leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out."

The plane hit some turbulence, and then they landed smoothly on the runway. The passengers applauded the pilot, and the captain thanked them for flying with them.

"All right, students of mine--" began Nakamura, to run through the exit procedure once more.

Before the poor woman could say anything else, everyone on the plane got up, grabbed their bags and blew right past her, knocking her into a very disheveled male flight attendent. (Hey. you'd be disheveled too after tending to a plane full of about 60 high school students plus annoying chaperones, Aka. JOSH in addition to all the other passengers for sixteen hours straight.)

Everyone was glad to be home after a month and a half. So much had happened back in New York City, and so much was left behind. But the memories would last them a lifetime and everyone was so glad to have had the opportunity to work on Junior Broadway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meggie sat at her desk, typing an e-mail on her laptop to Zac, a friend from the States that she'd been lucky enough to able to hang out with in New York, along with a number of her other friends from good old PA.

_Tap tap ta-tap tap ta-tap_. Confused, she looked towards the windows, where that tapping sound was coming through the curtains. _Tap tap ta-tap tap_. _Tap tap_. She quickly got up and closed her bedroom door, checking the hall first to make sure the coast was clear, then she went back across her room and, pushing the curtains aside, opened the door to the balcony.

"Surprise," Kyo said, coming in.

"How very Edward of you," she commented, smiling.

"But I'm _daaangerous!_"

She laughed. "How very _very_ Edward of you."

Kyo shrugged, smiling as well. "I try. So you clear?"

"Yeah-- I'll be 'home alone' in about five minutes, and no one'll be back for a few hours. You?"

"Mom and Dad're in China until tomorrow night and Frey is watching Nyozeka. I was staying with Darien so he could 'make sure I'm training like I say I am.' You guys got it easy--you're orders come from a fluffy little cat. Mine come from a very tall man with superpowers."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have claws, does he?"

"Touche." He looked at the door as if seeing past it, through it. "So where're the others?"

"Kasadi's at her study group and Emma's over at Sam's, and the Hanzos are about to go visit Josh and Mina."

"So we're going to the theater on North St., then?"

"Yeah." Meggie grabbed her jacket off her desk chair. "Hang on one minute."

"What is it?"

"Just wait out here," she said, pushing him out onto the balcony, closing the door and drawing the curtains. Her bedroom door opened a little.

"Hey, we're leaving for Josh's now," Beth said, sticking her head in around the door. "We're stopping to get a late dinner, too, so we won't be back until about midnight. Okay?"

"Yup."

"Okay then, don't stay up too late, goodnight."

" 'Night Okaa-san."

Beth left, closing the door behind her. Meggie grabbed her jacket off the back of her desk chair and headed out the door to the balcony.

"Okay," she said to Kyo. "Ten seconds from now they'll be gone and so will we."

"Cool," said Kyo, holding out his hand.

"I can get down myself," she said indignantly. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I can!"

"Well, you haven't yet," he said, but nonetheless he vaulted over the side of the balcony, landing gracefully on the ground below, leaving her to her own devices.

Grumbling about how she wasn't really _that_ clumsy, she climbed up onto the ledge and hopped down, landing a bit harder than he had, but just fine anyway.

"See? I did just fine."

"First for everything," he laughed.

"Shut up," she muttered. "Mister Sir Shiny Certificate."

"Okay, Miss I Stand Alone," he took a step towards her.

Accepting his challenge, she took a step towards him. "Rockinininin Party."

"_Stage Kiss_."

"Oh-_ho!_ **Completely Uncalled For**."

"Rockefeller Skating Rink Disaster--of '07."

"As I recall, that was half your fault," she said. "Or rather that whole night was all your fault, seeing as you _lied_ to me."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" he said, smiling and sounding not at all repetent. They were standing close enough to each other now that he had absolutely no difficulty in dipping his head ever so slightly to kiss her.

"Kyo," she mumbled.

"Hm?"

"We're going to be late for the movie."

He sighed, but pulled away and took her hand.

There wasn't a big line at the theater by the time they'd gotten there. Meggie insisted on paying for the popcorn, because Kyo had paid for their tickets. She didn't see him slip a five in her purse when she was giving the cashier her own bill.

Theater Seven, the one their movie was playing in, was pretty much empty. Only about twenty other people were scattered throughout the seats. It was easy finding good seats. He put his arm around her shoulders and she settled into his side just as the lights started to dim.

"I like this," she whispered as the previews started rolling.

He smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah... I've been waiting to see _Juno_ for _weeks_."

"Oh, _thanks!_" he laughed quietly.

"Oh, you thought I meant this?" she snuggled closer to him. "Yeah, this isn't so bad either. Remind me why didn't do this sooner?"

"Because _Juno_ only just came out last week." He waited a few seconds, then feigned sudden realization. "Oh, you meant _this?_" He held her closer. "Because I was stalking you and you thought I was a creeper."

"You still are a creeper."

"Love you too babe."

"Oh, it's starting," Meggie said. The opening scene of _Juno_ began.

"_It started with a chair._"

"Oh, crap--Sam! It's already started!"

At the sudden sound of Emma's whisper, Kyo and Meggie both took immediate action. Moving so quickly that their popcorn exploded all over the place, they dove onto the floor, out of sight from the doorway.

"Dammit! I spent five bucks on that popcorn!!" Meggie hissed.

"And I spent ten on the tickets!" whispered Kyo. "I thought they were supposed to be at Sam's!"

"Apparently not!" she pushed her hair out of her eyes and peeked over the seats to see where Emma and Sam were. "Okay, they're still in the doorway." She looked back at Kyo. "We've gotta get outta here before they see us."

"There's a fire exit this way--follow me." He turned away from her and started crawling away.

"Hey, there're some good seats," Emma said, pointing them out to Sam.

"Okay, yeah," Sam led the way over to them and they sat down--making a crunching sound.

"There's popcorn on the seats," Emma said, standing up and brushing it off.

"There's popcorn _everywhere_," Sam observed, looking at the floor.

"What kind of inconsiderate jerks just dump a jumbo-sized popcorn on the floor?"

"That was close," said Meggie, as the door closed behind them. "Way..._way_ too close." She sighed. "What now?"

"How about we take a walk through the park?"

"Sounds good." She took his hand and they started walking. "I'm sorry you wasted money on the tickets."

"I'm sorry you didn't get to see the movie."

The park wasn't far away, so it didn't take long to get there. They ended up on a park bench, thumb wrestling.

"Isn't this a litte deja vu-ish?" she said, struggling to keep his thumb pinned down with hers.

"What do you mean?" He tried desperately to escape her grip.

"Isn't this kinda how New York went?"

"We thumb wrestle all the time," he countered.

"Yeah," she replied, "but we don't normally thumb wrestle in a park, under the stars, while our friends think that we're somewhere else, doing something else."

"True... Here, we'll compromise." He suddenly pulled her close and kissed her. "There. _Now_ I'm feeling some deja vu."

"Hm... No, it was more like this..." She smiled and leaned in again.

"_I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire!_" sang Meggie's phone in her purse, so suddenly it made them jump. "_I am a vampire-ampire, I am a vampire, I have lost my fangs._" Kyo sighed frustratedly and turned, sitting normally on the bench now, as Meggie pulled her phone out, looking at the Caller ID. "_I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampi_--" She sighed angrily.

"Hey, Kas, what do you need? I'm--studying." She paused, listening to Kasadi talk, looking decreasingly happy. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her eyes and said "Okay, okay, calm down and get yourself out of there. I'll be right there. ...No, Kas, you know the rules. Go home. Now. ...Kasadi, I'm not arguing with you about this again! GO HOME. ...No, I'm not snapping at you! ...Am not. ...Am not. ...Am--What am I--?! GO HOME!!" She flipped the phone closed and looked at Kyo.

"Time to work?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

In reply she let out a long sigh--more of a huff than a sigh--blowing a few stray hairs out of her face momentarily.

Destiny **sucked.**

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"Switch!" Sailor Star yelled. She docey-doed around Xena as they switched oponents. Within seconds, Xena had triumphed and proceeded to fend off two more.

Luckily, it wasn't one of those annual-June-at-Hogwarts type battles that they got every once in a while, just one of those just-another-Buffy-episode, bored-minions-stirring-up-trouble skirmishes.

"Xena!" Jr. pulled Xena out of the way of an attack. All the minions seemed to be ganging up on her while Star was distracted. He pulled her into the protective cocoon of his cape for a moment. "You all right?"

"Are you?"

"I'd actually prefer thumb wrestling now, to tell the truth." She laughed breathlessly, then pushed him away from her and they both threw themselves back into the frenzy.

"There's too many!" yelled Star, trying desperately to keep them back. "Take my hands!" Xena and Jr. each grabbed one of Star's hands, which she threw out to them, risking the vulnerability for a moment, and then used their free hands to complete the triangle. "When I say, we all use our best attacks together to take them all out at once! And no flaming roses!" she snapped at Jr.

"But--"

"NONE!"

"FINE!"

"NOW!" shouted Xena, to break it up.

In unison, they released each other's hands and lunged towards the oncoming demons, Xena summoning her silver daggers to her hands, Jr. procuring roses from nowhere and Star preparing to let loose a Star Sphere. But her powers had other ideas. Without knowing why she was saying it or how she knew it would do something, Star shouted "STAR FLARE!!" as the other two used nonverbal attacks.

A shining ring appeared around her, hanging in mid-air around her abdomen like a possessed hula hoop, then it suddenly stretched, the front portion racing forward to slam into their attackers and destroy them, brightening as it went. Every youma that came in contact with it imploded--literally--then suddenly the beam seemed to reach its maxium stretch and it flickered and disappeared.

"...Wow," said Star, then, tucking away her stunned incredulity for later, engaged in hand-to-hand with any monster lucky enough to dodge the beam and within a minute they'd been dealt with, as their numbers had been decimated by her extremely effective attack.

Xena slashed at the last demon with her daggers, then, as it disintegrated, turned back to the other two. "Is that it?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Jr. said breathlessly, looking around at the huge amounts of dust everywhere. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Star glanced around to make sure they were alone, then reverted back to herself. Xena and Jr. followed suit. "'Cause I have a date to salvage. Can you two call this one in?"

"Sure," Meggie said. "Serena or Rei?"

"Serena's swamped with wedding stuff; Darien told me to make sure all calls go to Rei," said Kyo.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Emma chirped as she grabbed them both in a double hug then dashed off.

"Hey, wait a second!" Meggie said as Emma left. "What about your new...powers. Great." She looked at Kyo. "She's gone." 

"_But_... She's gone," he pointed out.

She smiled. "Great."

No sooner had he twitched in her direction when a noise suddenly made them both jump.

"_I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire!_"

They both sighed angrily.

"I am going to kill that thing," Kyo growled.

"_I have lost my fangs._ _I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampi_--"

"Heh--" Meggie started, but she stopped mid-greeting. "Kasadi."

"HANZOS ARE HOMEBOUND!" Kasadi's voice yelled so loud Kyo could hear it. Meggie held the phone at arm's length as Kasadi continued to yell. "HANZOS ARE HOMEBOUND! MAYDAY! **MAYDAY!!**"

"Where are they right now, Kas?" Meggie asked, loudly, so Kasadi could hear her.

"They just called and said they're leaving the gas station on South Avenue!" Kasadi wailed. "They think you're still here in your room with the sweater you're letting me borrow!!"

"Oh cra-- Which sweater?"

"Er-- HURRY!!"

"DAMMIT! Thanks Kas!" She snapped the phone closed a little violently than needed. "I gotta go."

"Wait--"

"I can't--Beth and Hotaka are on their way home!"

Kyo grabbed her arm to stop her. "No, I mean you'll never make it home before them-- We're in the Northwest sector of the city!"

"Then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Here," Kyo quickly pulled her into his arms and they dissapeared in a flash of swirling lights. When the lights faded, they were surrounded by the familiar setting of Meggie's room.

"HEY!!"

Meggie and Kyo flew apart faster than opposite magnets.

"Kasadi!" Kyo said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey, that's my favorite sweater!" accused Meggie.

"And that's my favorite power that I'M NOT ALLOWED TO USE!!" Kasadi hissed, "_None_ of us--well, _you_ are allowed to transport!"

"It was a Senshi thing, Kas," Kyo blurted before thinking. "OH! Not that you're not--I didn't mean you didn't--I don't think you don't--I'll be quiet."

"Phantom?" Meggie said.

"Christine?" Kyo answered.

"Be a phantom."

"Like the wind," he said, heading for the door to the balcony.

"Hey! Anybody home?" Beth called through the house from the front door. Kasadi, huffing angrily, said that the two of them should head down there. As if on cue, Hotaka called "Hey, Meg! Kas! Come here for a minute!"

"Be right there!" Kasadi shouted back.

"One sec Kas," Meggie said, hurrying to the sliding door. She opened it and said "Kyo."

Kyo, one leg already over the side of the balcony, stopped and looked back at her. "Yeah?"

"Uh..." Meggie was painfully aware of Kasadi's burning stare, fixated on her. "Good job tonight. You kicked some serious ass."

He smiled, trying to make it look like his normal, happy one, but Meggie could see the understanding of what she was really trying to say.

"Anytime." And he swung his other leg over the side and dropped out of sight.

Meggie took a step back and slid the door closed, then drew the curtains. She turned around to find Kasadi still glaring at her, but with other emotions laced through her expression--suspicion, perhaps?

"What was that?" she asked.

"Oh, well--" Meggie tried to think fast. "Kyo saved my ass tonight. Pulled a demon off me. He's losing some of his Creepertude."

Kasadi smiled, relieved. "So you guys are gonna be friends? Finally?"

"Uh, yeah--I mean, if he continues this no-more-Keggie kick he's on."

"_Oh, __**good**_." Kasadi sighed. "Finally, we can have Movie Nights that don't end with popcorn projectiles and 'Kyo that is MY knee!' Although, I am gonna miss the constant supply of just-add-water comic-relief..."

She nodded, feeling extremely awkward. Quickly, she shifted the subject off herself and Kyo and the manner of their relationship, "We should get down there."

"Yeah," Kasadi said as the two of them headed out into the hall and down the stairs. "I wonder what Uncle Ho-Ho wants."

"Keep calling me that and I'll just take the gift back," Hotaka, passing by the stairs, warned.

"Gift? What gift?" Meggie demanded.

"Is that a DVD?" Kasadi asked, spotting a small something in an fye bag. "Uncle Ho--I mean--Mr. T! Mr. T, wait!"

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	22. Lemonade anyone?

Great Angel Of Fire

Chapter 21

Meggie knocked on the Wakimaya's front door and waited. She wasn't sure if she and Kyo were at the No-Need-To-Knock stage, so she thought it safest to wait for him to answer the door.

The door swung open...and no one was there. Meggie looked down.

"Meggie!" Nyozeka, wearing, as always, her bunny ears, squealed, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Uh...Hey...Nyo...zeka..." Meggie said. "Er...what're you doing here?"

Nyozeka giggled. "I live here, silly!"

"Zeka!" Kyo came dashing down the stairs and scooped up the little girl, moving to the side so Meggie could come in. "Hey, Meggie."

"Kyo." Meggie eyed him suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Meggie looked pointedly at the small girl in his arms. "Oh. That. Uh... Her babysitter...died."

Meggie raised an eyebrow. "She died."

"Yes."

Meggie folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. "How?"

"Uh-- Bear."

"Bear?"

"Yeah... Panda."

"Panda. Really."

"Yes."

"Wow. That's weird-- I didn't hear anything about it."

"R-really? It was all over the news; 'Girl Mauled by...Panda.'"

"Mm. Tragic." She nodded, still looking at him suspiciously.

"Y-yeah." Kyo said. He tried not to meet her gaze, but failed. "I thought if you knew I was babysitting you wouldn't come over," he admitted.

"M-hm." Meggie shook her head. "Kyo?"

"Hmm?"

"Did she eat dinner?"

"Yeah."

"What did she have?"

"Mac and Cheese with hot dogs"

"Veggies?"

"Um Carrots and broccoli."

"Did she eat them all?"

"She ate the carrots."

"What time is bedtime?"

"8:30 on the weekends."

"Kyo, it's 7:00 now. To you really think that I'm so irrational that I wouldn't hang around with your sister for an hour and a half before she goes to bed, before we have our 'date'?" she asked.

"Um...no."

"Uh-huh." Meggie rolled her eyes, and then looked at Nyozeka. "Alrighty, Zeka. What do you wanna do?"

"Ummmmmmmm" she thought very hard, "I wanna get in my bunny jammies, have some chocolate milk and watch a movie in Mommy and Daddy's room."

"Okay! Sounds great. How about, I get you in your bunny costume while Kyo sets up the movie and makes you some chocolate milk."

"Okay!" Nyozeka grabbed Meggie's hand and dragged her up the stairs to the very pink and bunny filled room. Nyozeka grabbed a very fluffy pair of extremely fluffy bunny slippers and put them on. "Can you get my bunny pajamas please?" she pointed into the closet just before she crawled under her bed and disappeared behind the bed skirt.

"Um...okay." Meggie opened the closet door and found a white pair of flannel pajamas with a tuft of fluff on the back. She pulled it out and turned around to Nyozeka climbing out from under her bead with giant bunny feet slippers. _This kid is a bunny fanatic..._Meggie said to herself. Meggie helped Nyozeka into the outfit and just as she zipped it up, there was knock on the door.

"Is everyone decent?" Kyo's voice asked.

"YEP!" Nyozeka yelled. Kyo walked in with a small water bottle filled with chocolate milk.

"Kay Zeka, the movie you picked out is in."

"YAAAAAY!!" Nyozeka ran past Kyo, grabbing the milk as she went.

"What do you say?" Kyo called after her.

"Thank you, Meggie!"

"Very goo--Hey! What about me?!"

Meggie laughed and crossed the room to him. Smiling, he pulled her into his arms. "Hey," he said.

She smiled, saying "Hey," and kissing him.

"So how long can you stay?" he asked, taking her hand as they started towards the stairs.

"I can stay all night, practically," she said. "I told Okaa-san I was going to Aoi's to do our history project, so she's not waiting up for me."

"But what happens when you actually have to do the project?"

"We did it last week."

"Nice."

"So, what movie did you put in for Nyozeka?" Meggie asked. She settled on the couch as Kyo went over to the towering DVD shelf by the tv.

"Um, The Exorcist."

"KYO! _The Exorcist!?_ Are you crazy!? She's five!" Kyo turned around.

"I watched that movie for the first time when I was four. She's behind." Kyo laughed, "Besides. She loves those kinds of movies. Her favorite movie is Scary Movie 3."

"That's a _spoof_ on horror movies. Not an ACTUAL horror movie." Meggie leaned back and looked at the cieling. "You're going to give her nightmares. It still gives _me_ nightmares, and I'm 16 years old."

"Meg, chill-_ax_. I know my sister." Kyo smiled as he popped in a movie.

"What did you put in?"

"Scary Movie 3. I haven't seen it yet."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At about eight-thirty, they went upstairs to put Nyozeka to bed, but instead found her passed out, sprawled across the huge bed in Kyo's parents' room. The TV screen was bright blue, blank.

"Oh no," Meggie said. "She saw the whole thing."

"Maybe not--the DVD player is on a timer," Kyo said, picking up the still partly-full milk bottle off the nightstand. "And, judging from the amount of chocolate milk left in the bottle, and the position she's in, I'd say she's been out for about a half-hour."

"Oh, _good_," Meggie said. "It doesn't get scary until about half-way through."

"Here," Kyo handed her the bottle and gently picked up Nyozeka, cradling her in his arms, and took her down the hall to her room, while Meggie turned off the television and the lights, and closed the door behind her.

After Kyo was done putting the little girl to bed, the two of them went back down the stairs, to the living room and started up Scary Movie 3 again. After about fifteen-minutes in, Kyo paused the movie.

"What's wrong?" Meggie asked.

"Why can't we tell anyone about us again?" Kyo asked, looking at her.

"Kyo, we agreed on this weeks ago. We're not telling anyone because, for the past year, everyone was hoping for us to get together. Eventually, everyone gave up--well, except for Kasadi. If we tell everyone too soon, and we end up breaking up in a few months, we won't be the only ones devastated. I want to make sure that this will work for more than that before we tell everyone so that if something goes wrong we won't have gotten everyone's hopes up for nothing." Meggie explained. "I just wouldn't want our misery to have company." Kyo nodded in understanding and hit the play button on the movie again.

After about another fifteen minutes, during the flash back where Charlie Sheen's character was seeing his dying on and then-off-screen wife Denise Richards, a blood curdling scream came from the upstairs.

Kyo and Meggie looked at each other.

"That sounded like Nyozeka," Kyo said.

Meggie suddenly looked horrified. "Kyo, you don't think the Shadow...knows who we are...?"

The color drained from Kyo's face. "ZEKA!!" He screamed, lunging across the room and dashing up the stairs, Meggie hot on his heels.

"Zeka!" Kyo yelled, throwing the door open so violently Meggie was surprised it wasn't ripped off its hinges. "...Zeka?"

Nyozeka was curled up into a tiny trembling ball in the middle of her bed under her comforter.

Meggie quickly crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. She pulled the comforter off Nyozeka, asking "Zeka, what's wrong?"

"_Nyozeka's not here_," said the girl, in a voice two octaves below her natural tone.

"How is she having nightmares!? She fell asleep a half hour into the movie." Meggie asked aloud, to no one in particular.

"_I am the dark master of the underworld-._"

"No she didn't," Kyo replied.

"What_._"

"_I am Lucifer, the ruler of Hell..."_

"She was already half way through the movie when you got here."

"_You will do as I say, or your precious Nyozeka will DIE_-."

"KYO!!"

"OH right! Blame it on Kyo! _He's_ the whacko!" Kyo yelled back.

"No, Kyo's the _moron!_"

Suddenly, Nyozeka seemed to "snap-out-of-it," and she started crying. "Help me!!"

"Nyozeka," Meggie said calmly but firmly, "You are not possessed."

"Then how come my new imaginary friend is named Beelzebub?"

"You know, earlier I thought it was cute," Kyo said, "but _now_--"

"_Now I will kill you aaaaall_..."

"Kyo!"

"We can fix it!"

"How?!"

Kyo snapped his fingers. "Exorcism!"

"Oh, yeah, sure-- Lemme just look up Father Karris in the yellow pages!"

"He's in the yellow pages?"

"KYO!! She's not possessed, anyway!"

"_You dare to deny my power?!_"

"Follow me," Kyo went into the hall. Meggie hesitated, then followed.

"What?" she asked once they were in the hall.

"Let's perform an exorcism."

"Kyo, did you miss the whole 'not really possessed' aspect of this?"

"No, a _fake_ exorcism! We'll light some candles, say some religious-sounding crap, splash a little Holy Water in her face, and bada bing, bada boom, she's fine."

"Huh. A placebo exorcism."

"Exactly."

"That's actually a really good idea, Kyo," Meggie said. "Okay, I'll run down and grab the tapers off the dining room table and you find a book that looks like it might be a Bible."

"I'll get the Holy Water, too."

"You have Holy Water?"

"We went to the Vatican a few years ago--Lotis thing--and the Pope gave us some Holy Water. You know, John Paul's a pretty cool guy--he let me ride in the Popemobile! Haven't heard from him in a while, though..."

"Kyo...John Paul II died three years ago."

Kyo gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Nooo...!"

"Kyo--Zeka!"

"Right!"

Kyo darted down the hall to his parents room, rolling across the bed secret-agent-style and diving into the walk-in closet and started searching. "Holy Water...Holy Water...Holy--ah-ha!" On a shelf, there were two bottles standing side-by-side.

One was small and orb-like with a gold stopper in the shape of a crucifix, and the other was tall and broad with the words "Holy Water" written on it with a sharpie. Kyo grabbed the tall bottle and looked around and found a black leather journal and then dashed out of the room and into Nyozeka's where Meggie just finished lighting the candles.

"Okay!" Kyo barged in. "I have the '_Bible'_ and the Holy Water!"

"Okay, give me the _'Bible'_. I was Catholic for about 13 years, I know what to do." Kyo handed over the book and un-screwed the top off the Holy Water. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I...er..command you...satan...to leave this child!" Meggie looked over to Kyo and nodded.

"THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!!" Kyo dipped his fingers into the bottle and splashed Nyozeka, who immediately started screaming. "Heh heh..I always wanted to say that."

"_It will take more than that to get rid of me!"_

"Okay well fine!" Kyo brought the bottle over his head, "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!"

"Kyo, NO!!"

He jerked the bottle so hard that over half of the liquid inside splashed in Nyozeka's face, who suddenly took her screaming to a whole new level from very bad acting, to intense agony. "Oh my god! Maybe she is possessed!"

"_AAAAH!! I'M MELTING!! OH, WHAT A WORLD, WHAT A WORLD!!_"

_I'm not buying it, _Meggie thought, grabbing the bottle and sniffing it. She looked at it with a confused, suspicious expression, putting her fingers against the opening and tipping it so it got on her fingers, and tasted it, instantly recoiling. "Kyo, this isn't water! It's alcohol!!"

"...Maybe the fancy crucifix bottle was the one from the Pope..."

"Ya _think?!_" Meggie rushed to the convulsing Nyozeka and gently pried open her eyes, which turned out to be bright red, bloodshot.

"_It burns! It burns us!!_"

"Kyo, you just threw alcohol in your little sister's EYES."

"...Oh, damn."

"Do you have any eyedrops in your medicine cabinet?"

"Yeah!" Kyo dashed out of the room to get the medicine. It took him less than half a minute to come back in with it. Meggie took it and removed the top.

"Okay sweetie. I need you to stay still. I'm going to put stuff in your eyes to make them feel better. Okay?" Nyozeka tried as hard as she could to stay still as Meggie held open one of her eyes.

"Anything I can do, Meg?" Kyo asked, hovering worriedly.

"No," she said sharply. "You've done enough!" Catching the look on Kyo's face, she sighed, adding "Just go wait in your room. I'll be there once I'm done here. Hold still, Zeka..."

Kyo just nodded mutely and left the room.

It took a full thirty minutes to finally get Nyozeka to calm down enough to get her to agree to lay down in her bed again, on the condition that the closet light be left on with its door open. Another ten minutes went by before she was calm enough to let Meggie leave. She was asleep before the bedroom door closed.

Meggie stood with her back against the wall, then sunk down to the floor, her face in her hands. What a night. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her eyes, looking around herself.

The night had started out with such promise. She'd been going to go to her boyfriend's house to spend some uninterrupted time with him, somewhere where they wouldn't have to hide from their friends. She'd been looking forward to it the whole day. Even the surprise of Nyozeka hadn't upset her that much. She'd thought, 'Oh, whatever, she'll be asleep in less than two hours,' but one thing led to another, and now here she was. What a roller-coaster ride Kyo was. Or was the right word "train wreck?"

Oh, was it _ever_ going to get easy? Or would it just be one disaster after another? Would be one second enjoying a quiet moment together and the next throwing alcohol in a child's face forever? Would they even last that long?

She remembered how much it hurt her to let Koki go. It was nothing compared to this--to the idea of letting Kyo go.

Then she remembered; Kyo was sitting in his room, waiting for her to come tell him if Nyozeka was okay. He was probably going out of his mind--well, what little mind he had left, she thought with a small smile.

She got herself up off the floor and headed down the hall to Kyo's room. But when she opened the door, the lights were off. She flicked them on, but instead of seeing Kyo's furniture, she saw a modern-style office, with a sleek black desk, chair, and lamp. There was a futon in the corner, and a bamboo chair with very comfy-looking cushions. Kyo wasn't even there.

_This is weird. Not Kyo at all_, she thought.

Thinking that perhaps Kyo was in the living room, she went downstairs, preparing an apology in her head, but unable to come up with one that sounded good. "Hey, Kyo, sorry you're an idiot," didn't really qualify as an apology, and "Don't feel bad--I'm sure lots of babysitters accidentally throw alcohol in their charge's eyes," probably wouldn't make him feel any better, and, to be perfectly honest, she was very sure that it wasn't true.

She stopped in the middle of the stairs and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Then, opening her eyes, she said the first words that came to mind, "Kyo, you did make a mistake, but I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, and I'm sorry." There. That was good.

Repeating it in her head so she wouldn't mess it up, she went down the last few steps and into the living room. The _empty_ living room. She turned around and went in the kitchen. No luck. The dining room. Deserted.

"Where is he?!" she muttered to herself, going back to the living room. As she passed the door to the basement, she noticed light coming out from under it. Confused, she opened the door and went down the stairs into a finished basement, carpeted with simple gray-blue carpet and with walls painted dark blue. "Kyo?" she called as she came around the corner to the last few steps.

There was a large bed in the far left corner, with a dark blue comforter and pillows, and a shelf built into the headboard. On that shelf, there were several framed photos of the Wakamiyas in various places around the world (_Hey, there's one of Kyo with the Pope in the Popemobile_, Meggie thought), and other photos, some polaroids, some wallet-sized school pictures, were leaning against the framed ones, or stuck into the groove between glass and frame. The three school photos were Sam, Katsuro and Rini, and the polaroids were depicting Sam, Katsuro and Kyo being funny at McDonald's, at school, ect., members of the Drama Club at rehearsals and the Cast Party. On the nightstand next to the bed there was a lamp, an alarm clock, and a small, worn book.

Curious, Meggie crossed the room and picked it up. The cover and spine were blank. She opened it to the title page and smiled. " '_What Dreams May Come_,' " she murmured. She'd read it once, a long time ago, but she'd loved it. She let the book fall open to the bookmark and saw that, according to the marked page, he was right in the middle of one of her favorite parts.

"Have you ever read that?"

Meggie jumped and looked up to see Kyo standing in the doorway of an adjoining bathroom, in pajama pants. His hair was wet. "Oh, uh-- Yeah. Yeah I have. A long time ago, though." She stood up and set the book down on the nightstand. "Well...I--I'd better get going, I guess..."

"You're leaving?"

"Well, you're already in your pajamas, and I don't want to keep you up..."

"I took a shower," he explained. "And..."

"What?"

"And I kind of thought you might've already left," he admitted. "But I'm glad you stayed," he added quickly. She didn't answer, debating whether or not to go and how to say it. He took her hand. "Please stay? We haven't had time alone together in ages. I miss you, Meg."

"I miss you, too," she whispered. "But we can't let anyone see us together..."

"I know, I know." He took her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. "We decided to keep our relationship private, and it's going to be difficult. But we can't give up on it. It just means we have to try to make the most of the time we have together. So please don't leave. Who knows when we'll get another weekend when nothing's happening and we can both disappear?"

"You're right," she said, and for a moment they stood there in silence.

It was Meggie who broke the silence. "Kyo?"

"Mm?"

"I love you," she told him. "And I'm sorry for all the hell I've put you through."

He smiled and held her tighter. "It was worth it."

She pulled away from him and kissed him. The kiss grew deeper, more passionate, and Meggie found that she was back on that balcony in New York City, under the stars, where there was nothing in the world but Kyo.

His hand trailed from her waist up her back and into her hair, leaving a trail of fiery sensation. Her hand gripped his shoulder as he left her mouth and kissed his way slowly down to her exposed pulse.

There was nothing in the world but Kyo. And to him there was nothing but her. But it had always been that way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	23. The Domino Effect of Doom: Part Uno

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 22

Part Uno

The scrape of the key in the lock sounded so loud as Meggie attempted to make it into the house without anyone realizing that she hadn't already been there in the first place. She opened the front door just a crack, only enough to see into the front hallway and make sure that the coast was clear. It was.

She squeezed through the door, not wanting to open it too much more because she knew that it creaked horribly. Tip-toeing down the hall and up the stairs, she avoided the squeaky floorboards and stairs as much as possible.

"Meggie?"

Meggie froze, cursing her bad luck a thousand times over in her head as she slowly turned. "Hey, Okaa-san."

Beth was still in her pjs and bathrobe, sipping on a cup of coffee. She smiled tiredly. "You have fun last night?"

Meggie's blood ran cold. "What? Fun? W-what fun? I wasn't--Where?"

"Aoi's. Did you have fun at Aoi's?"

Aoi's? Oh, right! That had been her cover story! "Uh, yeah--yeah it was…great. We, uh, finished the project."

"That's good. Did you do a good job?"

"Uh, yeah," Meggie said, turning around and hurrying up the stairs as Beth went into the living room to watch the news, muttering to herself, "We did a great job."

She scurried to her room and opened the door, slipped through it, and closed it all in one fluid motion, almost as if it was a revolving door.

She put her forehead against the door, sighing with relief.

"Hey, you're home!"

Meggie jumped about a foot in the air and turned around. "Kasadi!!" she exclaimed. "Don't _do_ that!"

"What?" asked Kasadi, who was sitting on the edge of Meggie's bed, looking at all the books in her bookcase. "Stealing this." She took a book from a shelf, glancing over at Meggie. "jeeze, you look guilty. Like you just committed a crime.

"Really? I'm...probably just overtired."

"Yeah," Kasadi said, a concerned look on her face, getting up and crossing the room. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Meggie said, moving aside so Kasadi could get to the door, "why wouldn't I be?"

Kasadi didn't answer, just nodded her head, and left, saying "Get some sleep."

"I will," she answered, closing the door behind her. She waited and listened for the faint sound of Kasadi's door closing, then, when she heard it, she dropped her backpack on her desk chair, kicked off her shoes, and flopped onto her bed, groaning. What had she _done?_ How stupid could she possibly be?! Well, she hoped, maybe this would be the limit of her stupidity. She didn't want to keep stuffing secrets under her bed, because sooner or later someone would notice.

First order of business: call Kyo.

As if on cue, her cell phone began buzzing her pocket. Normally, the sound reminded her of a cat purring, but today it sounded like an angry bee. The caller ID told her who it was, and she set it on the nightstand.

Okay _new_ first order of business: don't give anyone any reason to suspect her of anything.

Sighing in frustration at the always-altering complications of her life, she rolled off the bed and went to take a shower.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The bell rang and everyone lazily got to their feet and began gathering up their books. It was Friday. They wanted this day to end so they could go home.

Probably the only one truly awake and present, Kyo was out the classroom door and navigating his way through the crowded hallway before any of his classmates had gotten out of their seats yet.

He searched the sea of dark-haired heads for that one that stood out like a lit candle. And then he spotted it.

"Meg--" he started to shout, but then he caught himself. Was that Rini next to her? Moving as stealthily as he could, he darted around the students forming this throng, making his way up close to them.

"I've gotta drop off this form in the front office to get that speaker to come talk to our class," Rini said to Meggie as they slowed, approaching Meggie's locker, "so I'll be about ten minutes late to lunch."

"Kay," Meggie said, opening her locker. "I'll tell the others."

"Thanks," Rini hurried down the hall.

"Meggie." Kyo slid into the small gap between current of students and lockers next to her.

Jumping slightly as his sudden appearance, she quickly returned to acting as if she didn't care. "What?"

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About what we--" He glanced around and then lowered his voice, "about what happened last Saturday."

"Kyo, I really don't want--"

"Okay, that is IT!" Kyo closed her locker and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her through the now nearly empty hallway.

"Hey! Kyo--!!"

He wrenched open a door, pushed her inside the closet, and closed the door behind him.

She yanked her arm out of his grip. "Kyo!" she yelled.

"What?" he yelled back.

"That was really sexy!

He smiled. She smiled back, then suddenly scowled and smacked his shoulder.

"**Don't do it again!**"

"If you want to hit me, then save it for after I've said my bit," he said. "We need to talk about what…what we did."

"In a _broom closet_, Kyo?"

"Where else? You've been avoiding me all week." She had no answer to that. "Are you upset?" Hesitantly, she nodded. "Do you regret it? Me?"

"What?! No, Kyo, no!" she finally answered. "It's not that. That was… Okay, here it is: I love you. And you love me, and that makes sense to me. So what we did…makes sense."

"Then why have you been avoiding me?" The hurt could clearly be heard in his voice.

"I can't _tell_ anyone!" she burst out. "No one can know! I can't talk to _anyone_ about it--anyone except _you_, but you were there! You know what happened!!" She stopped, angrily wiping away the tears betraying just how upset she was. "I just… I never thought I would find someone…I loved. And so this _on top of _hiding the relationship in the first place never even entered into my equation. We agreed to see where this road takes us before calling in triple-A, but it's just...I don't know if I can handle it."

Kyo put his arms around her comfortingly. "We'll tell them soon. When the time's right...and we'll know when it's right."

"Soon?" she mumbled into his shirt.

"Soon," he promised.

"I'm holding you to that," she warned. She sighed, somewhat content. "Soon."

"Soon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Ding-dong._

"Sam's here!" Emma finished messing with her hair and dashed to the closet to get her jacket--a stylish, brown one she'd bought in New York. It was hard to imagine that they had been there only two months ago. Or, she thought, more like two-and-a-half. She could remember because it was barely a week after they returned that her powers advanced--drastically. Her new attack, Star Flare, was the New Senshi's most powerful. It was the big gun.

"Meg! Kas! Come on, let's go!" she called into the hall as she pulled the jacket on. "Our ride's here!"

"Coooomiiiiing!!" called Kasadi, slipping on her jacket as she turned the handle and opened her bedroom door. As she closed it behind her, pulling her hair out from in between her jacket and sweater, Emma met her in the hall.

"Ready?" Emma asked.

"Ready." Kasadi answered.

Synchronized, they stepped over to Door Number 3 and began knocking rapidly on it, both yelling "Meeeeggggiiiiiiiiie!!!!" and "Let's goooooooo!!!"

Silence answered them.

Emma and Kasadi exchanged confused expressions. Emma tapped on the door more gently, using just one careful knuckle. "Meggie?" she asked loudly enough to be heard through the door but only just so. "Meg, you okay?" Again, silence. They exchanged another curious look.

"Senshi thing?" suggested Kasadi softly.

Emma shook her head. "It's been quiet ever since my powers advanced. And what with all that info Rei got on that Mordae guy..."

"Oh, since when has an immortal minion of evil who was Diamond's right-hand general over a thousand years ago with a personal vendetta against the Senshi, and, more importantly, it's Creator and Energizer Bunny..."

Emma waited for the rest--she didn't _think_ that that was a complete sentence... "Yeah?"

"I _think_ I had a point," Kasadi said, biting her lip comically, "but I got distracted," she admitted. Emma gave her an exasperated look. "Hey, sorry--big words, shiny toys: synonyms."

"Let's just storm the castle, shall we?"

"Charge."

Emma opened the door and she and Kasadi stepped into the doorway.

"Hey!" Emma said accusingly at the sight of Meggie sitting on her bed with her knees under her chin, wearing her biggest, warmest pajama pants and her huge gray sweatshirt, staring out the window. She looked like she'd just woke up. "That, my friend, is _not_ party attire."

"I'm not going."

"What do you mean you're not going?!" Kasadi sat down on the edge of the bed. "The entire Drama Club will be there."

"Among other people," Emma added. Meggie didn't move or look away from the window. Emma sighed. "Come on! When the club had to split up after New York, didn't we all promise we'd still hang out? Well you're the only one who hasn't been making good on that promise, and being the star of the show and one of the most fun people in the entire club, you are missed. Folgore said that everyone was excited about getting to see you again at his party."

"I just... I..." Meggie looked at Kasadi, then Emma. She seemed to be struggling to hold something back, then finally she said "Gimme ten minutes."

"Yes!" Kasadi cheered, hopping off the bed. "I'll go tell the guys to come hang out for a minute."

"Do you know what you want to wear?" Emma said, sensing that Meggie wasn't telling her something. "Meggie? Meggie!"

Meggie looked away from the window again. "Huh?" Her expression wasn't upset, or angry, just...not all there. "What?"

Emma wanted to repeat her last question, but instead it came out as "Is something wrong?"

"No. Yeah. Ugh!" Meggie put her face in her hands, then pushed her hair back. "No. I'm fine. I just feel funky. I'll be okay. Ten minutes?"

"Yeah. We'll be downstairs."

As the two of them descended the stairs, Kasadi asked Emma "What do you think's wrong with her?"

"I dunno... She's been out-of-it lately." Emma said, trying to unlock the archives of her memory to find a common factor, a date, a theme, an anything. "She's just been...depressed."

"I'm worried about her," Kasadi admitted. "I mean, _everyone_ is. We were all kind of hoping that tonight would be the first step back to being '_Meggie_.'"

"Yeah." Emma opened the door, greeting Sam and Rini and quickly explaining that Meggie would be down in just a little bit.

Fifteen minutes later, Sam, Rini, Emma, Kasadi, and Meggie, who had thrown on her favorite emerald green, v-neck sweater and pulled her hair hastily into a half-back so she looked halfway decent, were all piling into Sam's car.

Folgore--nicknamed "Crazy Steve" during the adventures of Drama Club last school year--was home alone for the weekend, and he was seizing the opportunity to have a little--the term here used very loosely--reunion of the JB Phantom cast. And friends. And friends of friends. And some guy. Or two. And girlfriend. (s.) And a band. And groupies.

The music could be heard down the block, where parking was scarce.

"Are all of these for the party?" Kasadi asked the car, looking out the window.

"Steve's more popular than we thought," Rini commented.

"Steve's more _stupid_ than we thought," Emma corrected.

"There's a spot!" Kasadi pointed. "Grab it! Quick!"

"Nah, I've got a better, _safer_ spot," Sam said, passing by the open space. "Steve saved a space in his driveway so I wouldn't have to park on the street--just in case, you know."

"That was nice of him," Emma said.

"He's through the roof about you showing up, Meg." Sam said, looking at his fiery-haired friend, staring out the window, in the rear-view mirror. "Everyone is. You know, you kinda dropped off the map when we got home."

"Hm?" Meggie said, looking away from the dusk. "Sorry?"

"I said," he repeated his concern, "you sort of just disappeared from the radar scope after New York."

"New York!" Emma hissed in Kasadi's ear. "I _knew_ there was a trigger--!!" Kasadi shushed her.

"Hey, there's Katsuro and Kyo." Rini observed as they pulled into the driveway.

As the five of them climbed out of the car, Rini greeted Katsuro with a kiss, and Kyo fell to the back of the group as they all amoebaed their way to the front door.

"Hey," he said, slipping something into her hand--his own.

"Kyo..." she pulled away, putting her hands in her jacket pockets.

He was thrown for a moment by the sudden, blunt rejection. "Hey," he said again, quickening his pace to catch up to her--she walked so damn fast!--and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her around to face him. The others had already entered the house through the front door (thrown wide open to avoid the annoying knock-and-answer routine which would repeat itself every three seconds at a party of this magnitude).

"What?" she asked, annoyed, but seeming to be unaware of what it was she'd done.

"Um, Meg, hello, frostbite." He said, slipping his hand inside his sleeve and waving the resulting "stump." "I lost a hand."

She made an angry noise and smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh, god--Kyo, I'm sorry. I'm just..."

"How come every time you say 'just,' it's followed by an ellipsis?" he asked. "Sorry, just something I've noticed this chapter..."

"Probably because it's been almost three months and we still haven't told them," she said. "Kyo, it's getting harder."

"Stop looking like that and that problem goes away," he replied.

"Kyo."

"Okay, okay, serious now." He moved a flat hand, palm towards him, in front of his face, morphing from Funny Kyo to Serious Kyo. "You were saying."

She stared at him in disbelief of him (she was _attracted_ to _that?!_), then scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning to walk away.

"Oh, don't start this game again--!" he said, once again taking only a few steps to catch up with her, grab her arm and turn her around. "We agreed: I stop 'Flaming Rose,' you stop running instead of talking."

"I just..."

"Elipsis."

"Kyo."

"Sorry."

She took a deep breath then said "I've been thinking, and I think...I think it's time we told them." She exhaled harshly, having held her breath for a moment after her confession.

"Well?" she asked after he didn't answer. "Kyo, what do you think?"

"Uh..." Kyo thought for a moment. "Are--are you sure?"

"I don't know--I think so." She twisted a finger in nervousness. "Ow--It's been almost three months, Kyo, and we know this isn't a 'the lights of New York hypnotized me' thing. Right?"

"Of course."

"Then I think we should fess up. Kasadi's already suspicious, but then again she's Kasadi, plus she's the only shipper left, but if she figures it out--if her suspicions are confirmed, then she'll tell them all, and they'll get uber-pissed at us," Meggie said. "_But_," she added, "if _we_ tell them before Kasadi finds us out, then it's all good, and we can stop feeling guilty about lying to our families." She put her hands together in an innocent pose, and pressed her fingertips to her mouth pleadingly. "Please?"

Kyo studied her face as he thought. "Yes," he said. "Yeah, I think it's time we told them."

"Finally," she gasped, letting him pull her swiftly into a tight embrace.

"When we go back to the Hanzo's after the party," he said into her hair. "We'll tell them."

Meggie couldn't bite back the laugh that suddenly welled up inside her.

"What?"

"Nothing, just--" She stepped back and looked at him. "You make it sound like we're engaged or something."

"Well, you know as long as we're dropping bombs..."

"Kyo."

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

No sooner had Meggie stepped over the threshold than she was tackled nearly to the ground by at least four ecstatic members of the Drama Club. Laughing at themselves and the ease with which she'd almost fallen, they let her back up and took a step back, only for her to be spotted by four more members of the Drama Club and being tackled again, falling backwards into Kyo, who pushed her back up discreetly and moved a few feet away.

"Hey!" shouted someone, parting the crowd to get to the almost-dogpile in the foyer. "Careful! If someone gets hurt and my parents find out about this--" The eight Drama Clubbers stepped back and helped a frazzled Meggie get her bearings. "MEGGIE!!"

For the third time in five minutes, Meggie was tackled, this time by Crazy Steve himself.

"D'oh!" she yelped, knocking into Kyo--again. "Ow! STEVE!"

"Sorry!" he apologized quickly. "Sorry Kyo--I just can't believe you're here!"

"Where've you _been?_" asked someone else.

"Just dropped off the map, Meg."

Meggie shrugged, smiling. "I'm here now--that's what matters, n'est-ce pas?"

"Ah oui," said Aoi, the only one of the group right there that also took French.

"Hey Steve, where can I get something to drink?" asked Meggie.

"Food and stuff is in the kitchen--right through there."

"Thanks."

The party was fun, surprisingly--a bit too big and loud, maybe, but that was outweighed by the fun. Emma had thought that there was no way Folgore could get away with throwing the party--his parents would surely find out--but he'd actually done this smart, all the breakables put in cardboard boxes and locked in an upstairs bedroom, most of the furniture moved into the garage to minimize chances of someone tripping and getting hurt.

'Yeah, he might just get away with this,' she thought.

"This band is pretty good," Kasadi shouted over the loud music.

"Yeah--They're local, but I've never heard them before," Sam said.

"Meggie seems to be fitting back in well," Emma observed, with a smile. Meggie was over in a doorway, talking to a few members of the chorus from the production. As the three girls walked away, and Meggie turned to listen to the band, someone else walked up behind her, and Emma said "Oooh no..."

"What is it?" Kasadi asked, turning to see what Emma saw. "What's--? Oh."

"What?" Sam was the only one of the trio out of the loop now.

"Koki," Emma said.

"Oh my damn." Sam turned, looking over at Koki and Meggie, talking. Meggie looked uncomfortable.

"This is the first time they've talked since Christmas," said Kasadi.

"Should we go bail her out?"

"No," said Emma. "She's a big girl. She can take care of herself." She tugged Sam's sleeve and the three of them went off to find the punch bowl.

"So you had fun in New York?"

"Yeah," Meggie said. "Yeah, it was great. Saw a lot of old friends...made a lot of new friends."

"That's good," Koki folded his arms and leaned against the doorway. "You know we never really got to talk. About...about the day before you left. And that morning at the airport."

"No..." Meggie looked down, tucking a lock of hair--her face rapidly become the same color--behind her ear. "No, we didn't."

"So..." he said. "Let's see...I called you, to say Merry Christmas, and to apologize for never calling you--"

"Because you were at your grandmother's all day Christmas Eve and left your cell at home."

"And you got mad at me."

"You _did_ call pretty early in the morning."

"You used to think it was cute."

"Well, I had a rough night."

"Yeah..." Koki's brow furrowed with displeasure at what came next in the story. "And that's where Wakamiya's name came in."

"Yeah..." Meggie said uncomfortably.

"You defended him."

"He's not that bad, Koki."

"He was stalking you."

"No he wasn't--"

"He attacked me."

"Nobody was hurt."

"You complained about him frequently."

"You complained about your brother all the time."

"Why?"

Meggie was taken aback. "Why what?"

"Just tell me why you did it."

"Why I did...?"

"Why you broke up with me."

"Oh jeeze..." Meggie looked down again, then forced herself to look up and meet Koki's gaze--she owed him that. "Koki, I'm sorry. You're a great guy, and I had fun when I was with you." She took a deep breath. "But I just think that that's all it would ever be. Fun. It wasn't evolving, it wasn't...turning into anything."

"You weren't letting it," he countered. "I was there, I was willing--you weren't, on both counts. I'd reach out and take your hand, and you'd suddenly stop talking. You'd wait a minute _exactly_ and then pull it away to casually push your hair out of your eyes or something."

"I didn't--"

Koki reached out and grabbed her hand. "See?" he said. "Like a mute button."

"Koki, you--you surprised me, that's all--"

He suddenly pulled her close and kissed her. (In the other room, Kasadi suddenly twitched violently. "What's wrong?" Emma asked her, and Kasadi replied "I don't know--I just feel like we should be kicking someone's butt...") Shocked, she tried to pull her hand free to push him away.

"Hey!" somebody pulled Koki away roughly.

Koki looked to see who it was who had intervened. "Wakamiya."

"Kugyo," Kyo replied, matching Koki's cool tone.

"Kyo--" Meggie tried to return the favor to Kyo and intervene, but she was interrupted by said whacko.

"I think you should leave her alone," he said calmly.

"I think you should mind your own business," Koki said, calmly enough, but his tone was riddled with mounting annoyance, as he and Kyo each attempted to stare the other down. As far as he was concerned, it was Kyo's name that had started the fight that had broken up he and Meggie.

"Kyo," Meggie said, grabbing his wrist. "Let it go." Kyo didn't break the stare. ('Why do guys always have to _prove_ they've got the penis?!' she thought. 'I would have taken his word for it!') "Kyo," she said firmly. After a moment, Kyo looked at her instead of Koki.

Koki's eyes flitted from Kyo to Meggie to Kyo again, quickly coming to the conclusion...

"Oh my _god_," he said. Meggie looked at him. "You--and him--"

"Koki, it's not what you're thinking--"

"You're in _love!_"

"...Dammit."

"The entire time--behind my back--!!"

"Oh, never mind, I was right--you're wrong."

"I can't believe this!" Koki laughed in utter disbelief. "So you dumped me for him." It wasn't a question. She didn't answer immediately. (It wasn't _exactly_ true--she'd ended it with him because she knew that feelings were not being reciprocated, but somewhere in her, she'd been thinking of _Phantom_'s opening night last spring...) That was the proverbial gas being thrown on the fire.

"Come on, let's go--" Kyo took her hand and her fingers involuntarily interlaced with his.

Koki's fist came out of nowhere.

Kyo went flying backwards, slamming into the wall, and Koki was already on him again.

"KOKI!" Meggie yelled, trying vainly to pull him off--if there was _ever_ a time for Xena's strength to manifest-- "Oh my _god_, what're you doing?! Koki! Get off him!"

Koki's answer was to shove her off with his shoulder, which gave Kyo a split-second opening. The punch caught Koki's left side of the face, with such force that it sent him careening into the other room, the dining room, where most of the food and drinks were set out on the table, which the two teenaged boys slammed into at full force, snapping the practically-antique table in half. Food and drink went everywhere (Meggie was instantly covered in beer and fruit punch, along with trail mix and potato chips of questionable cleanliness, ruining her green sweater), and, as those in the vicinity jumped out of the way, more things were knocked over, creating a catastrophic Domino Effect of Doom.

"Stop it!" Meggie yelled over the screams of startled girls and the cheering of drunken boys, trying to fight through the sudden barrier of people. "Guys, just _stop it!_"

Kyo was the one who got himself up, then pulled Koki up, and the two started at it again, punching, pushing, and yelling. They tore through the house, leaving destruction behind them, and finally out the open front door, where, Meggie hoped, they wouldn't cause more devastation.

In the front yard, however, there was a fence to break, flower beds to destroy, a sapling to snap, and several very unfortunate garden gnomes to shatter.

"LARRY!" shrieked Crazy Steve as a plump, jolly-looking gnome with curly-toed red shoes and a fishing pole was beheaded.

Meggie stood off to the side of the battle zone, as close as she could get to them without becoming part of the damage herself, yelling as loud as she could to get their attention, unsuccessful.

"Cops!" someone yelled. Indeed, there were sirens in the distance, and lights could be seen at the bottom of the hill, headed their way.

"Bail!"

"Abandon ship! Abandon ship!"

Chaos ensued, with people fleeing the scene as Kyo and Koki remained oblivious to anything but the nigh-"epic" battle they were engaged in.

"Meggie!" Emma yelled over all the noise. "Meggie, come on--let's go!"

"But Kyo--"

"Kyo drove himself--he'll be fine!"

"No, he's--"

"Let's GO!" Sam yelled, grabbing her upper arm as Emma grabbed her other, the two of them dragging her away.

"Oh, those _idiots_," Meggie muttered to herself, sliding down in the seat as they drove away.

"Who were they?" Kasadi asked, squished between Meggie and Rini in the backseat.

"I couldn't tell," Sam said. "All I saw were flying fists of fury."

"They _destroyed_ that house," Rini said. "And Steve's parents will be home tomorrow night."

"Looks like Invicible Folgore is going to be on house arrest til he _graduates_," said Emma, sitting in the passenger seat but turned sideways so she could talk to her fellow passengers. "College, that is."

"Did anybody say what they fighting _about?_" Rini said.

"I heard somebody say they were yelling something about a _girl_," Sam shrugged.

"Ha. Figures," snorted Rini.

"Nngh!" Meggie hit her head against the window.

"Uh...Meggie?" Sam said, adjusting the rear-view mirror to look at her. "You, uh...You okay?"

"Aaaah-I'm fine," she said in a very pained, extremely exasperated voice. Her forehead still pressed to the cool glass, she said "I just--" She looked around at the concerned faces of her friends. They had been so close. So close. All the deception would have been over. She would have been able to TELL THEM. And now she'd have to wait--and go through all of this all over again and again and again--until the time was once again ripe for the truth. And who knew when that would be? "I just--" Emotion was welling up in the back of her throat like vomit, and she couldn't hold it down, "I just really liked this sweater," she finally sobbed.

Hesitantly, Kasadi patted her shoulder uncertainly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	24. The Domino Effect of Doom: Part Deux

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 22

Part Deux

Meggie gingerly stepped over the wreckage that had just last night been a cute white picket fence, holding Kasadi's forgotten purse between her thumb and forefinger by the strap.

"Okay," she said, walking up to Mina, who had been kind enough to drive her over here, as Kasadi had suddenly remembered today, as she rushed out the door to her study group, that she'd left her purse at the party the night before. "I got it."

"What's the matter?" Mina said in reference to Meggie's disgusted face.

"Nothing...just..." The smell was making it difficult for Meggie to keep her breakfast down. "last night it was...a very different color."

"Ah. I see--jeeze, you look like you're about to hurl."

"I think I might."

"Whatever you need to do, do it before you get in my car," Mina said, looking around. That Folgore kid was pulling debris into a pile with a rake as his parents talked to yet another police officer in the doorway of what she thought must normally be an orderly, pretty house. She looked back at Meggie, smiling almost evilly. "So."

"...So?"

"So-o!" Mina practically vibrated with excitement. "_So you went to your first cop-raided party last night!_" She emmitted a high-pitched squeal. "Oooh, I'm so _proud_ of you! I wish I could've been there to see it. Tell me _all_ about it." She started fishing in her large purse for a plastic grocery bag to put Kasadi's reaking purse in.

"Uh...It was okay," Meggie said, dropping the purse into the bag Mina held out. "We hung out for a while, a band played and didn't suck, and then a bunch of people tried to start a mosh pit--wildly unsuccessful, there was a fight, the cops showed up, a girl in my French class threw up in the bushes and then Emma and Sam dragged me to the car and we left."

"_Oooh_, that sounds so much like my first cop-raided party. Minus the kiddie pool full of Hershey's chocolate syrup."

"A kiddie pool of--?"

"Nevermind. So what--" Mina stopped as a familiar car pulled into the driveway.

Meggie looked too, pointing in confusion. "Isn't that Darien's car?"

"Yeah."

Sure enough, it was Darien who got out and slammed the door of the car, then marched up the walk to them.

Mina smiled in greeting, "Hey Darien, what're you--"

"Okay, so," Darien interrupted, fuming, and Meggie had a feeling where this was going, "I'm out with Serena last night, and we're in the middle of a nice dinner at a nice restaurant, to celebrate our anniversary."

"Happy anniversary?" Meggie said uncertainly.

"And then, my cell phone rings. Guess who it is."

"Did you win something?" said Mina.

Darien plowed on, ignoring the comical comments, "It's some-kid-named-Folgore's father, asking me to come and help figure out some sort of financial agreement to help fix all the damage at his house."

Meggie cringed "Oh my _damn_..."

"What?!" Mina exclaimed. "Why?!"

"I asked him the same thing--and then the _cops_ call, saying that they've got one '_Kyo Wakimaya_' downtown, and I've got to come bail him out because his parents are out of town."

Mina gasped. "_No!_"

"Kyo is going to be in intense training until further notice," Darien said before stomping up to the door to join the conversation with the officer.

"Say hi to Serena for me," Meggie said, waving weakly.

Mina turned slowly to Meggie. "Any details you failed to mention?"

"Uh…Kyo and Koki got into a fight?"

"Koki Kugyo? Your _ex-boyfriend?_ Was it over you?!"

"What am I, a Mary Sue?"

"It was over you."

"No! No… Kinda."

Mina stepped in front of Meggie, adjusting her stance to look Meggie in the eye, her gaze scrutinizing. "So that house is destroyed because of you."

Meggie cringed. "Yes."

"This garbage is all over this yard because of you."

"Yes."

"You are the reason that two boys tore through that house like a tornado, that this fence is broken, that the cops raided this party?"

"In a nutshell."

Mina said nothing, she just stared.

Meggie began to grow nervous. "W-what? _What?_"

After a moment, Mina began to sing, softly, then growing louder... "_…Did I ever tell you you're my hero?_"

"Oh my god!" Meggie started walking down the street, towards Mina's car.

Mina chased after her. "_You're everything I wish I could be…_"

Meggie broke into a run.

"_And I can fly higher than an eagle!_"

"Mina, PLEASE!!"

"_'Cause you are the wind beneath my wings!_ Everybody!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"END of discussion!" Serena shouted with a very 'finito' edge. "Kyo, you will not change your alias from 'Tuxedo Mask Jr.' to 'The Incredible Flash.' Next order of business..." She looked down at the notebook open on her lap.

Yet another Senshi Meeting of Kyo-you're-crazy and who-stole-my-cookie. Meggie fidgeted nervously. She needed to talk to Kyo, and seeing as Darien had him on such a short leash these days, this was the first she'd seen him since the party, and that had been last week.

'Come on Serena,' she thought desperately, 'Potty break, potty break, potty break...'

"Why don't we cut for a quick break?" suggested Rei as Serena struggled to decipher her own handwriting. "Ten minutes?"

As everyone else eagerly wandered outside to join the first really warm weather in months, Meggie pulled Kyo out into the hall, out of sight from the others.

"We need to talk," she said, no-nonsense.

"I know--" Kyo said. "Look, I am so sorry about what happened at Steve's."

"I know Kyo--it's fine. What I--"

Kyo waved her reply away, continuing, "I didn't start it, but I sure as _hell_ didn't try to end it--"

"That's not what--"

"--and I ended up ruining Steve's house, and the entire party--"

"Kyo--"

"--and your favorite sweater--oh _man_, your _favorite_ sweater--"

"I don't--"

"--I loved you in that sweater--I'll get you a new one, I promise--"

"**KYO!!**"

Kyo paused, shocked into silence by her sudden outburst. He quickly recovered, folding his arms diplomatically and saying, apologetically, "Go on."

"Sorry," she said, not sounding it, but knowing that just because she was out of whack at the moment didn't justify yelling at Kyo. "But I'm not exactly in control of my emotions at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"What I _mean_ is..." She grabbed her bag off the bench in the hallway where everyone always threw coats and purses. "I-I mean it's not like it's official or anything--" She reached into the front pocket, pulling out a ziploc bag with a small something in it, and held it up for him to see. "--b-but...Kyo..." She took a deep breath and then it spilled out before she could think of a better way to say--if there even was a better way to say it-- "Kyo, I think I'm pregnant."

Kyo's face slowly turned from politely patient to stunned. "Wh...what?"

"I know," she said, shaking. "I should've told you sooner, but I just found out after the party, and couldn't say it over the phone, and _never_ in an _e-mail_, and you're on house arrest so the only time I see you is at school and then everyone else is around and we're never alone--" She knew she was rambling, but it didn't quite register in her mind that rambling equals...well, rambling.

"Is that..." Kyo asked, pointing at the ziploc bag as if it held a poisonous dart inside.

"Yeah," she said. "It's a pregnancy test."

"And blue means...?"

"What do you _think_ it means?!"

"Oh my god..." Kyo then began to show his background as a world-traveler by swearing in every language he'd ever known. Then, as if suddenly a different person, he grabbed Meggie and held her. "It's okay. We're going to figure this out."

"What if it's _true_, though?!" she whispered. "What're we gonna do?!"

"As a member of the Lotis, I...I don't believe in--"

"Abortion?! Kyo, of course not! You didn't think I'd ever do something like that, do you?!"

"Of course not, of course not..." Kyo sighed, frustrated and frightened, trying to think through his panic.

"I meant what do we tell...everyone?" She took a step back from him and looked at him. "Nobody even knows that there's an 'us,' remember? We can't exactly walk back into the meeting and say 'Hey everyone, _guess what!!_'"

For a few seconds they were silent, both thinking desperately of a way to deal with the situation.

"I should take another test," Meggie said finally. "And maybe go to a clinic... Just make sure it wasn't a--a fluke or something..."

"All right--come on then." Kyo grabbed his jacket off the bench and handed her hers.

"What--? Kyo we can't just _leave!_" Meggie said as he pulled her out back through the meeting room and outside.

"Hey Darien," Kyo said, releasing her wrist and darting over to his mentor. "Darien, Meggie's not feeling well--I'm gonna walk her back to the Hanzos."

"All right then--but remember--"

"I know I know I know--you've got me clocked on MapQuest and you'll be checking in."

"And I'll be sending you the minutes--"

"From the rest of the meeting via e-mail, yes, thank you, bye."

"And don't come back with a black-eye this time!" Darien yelled after them. "That boy," he muttered, shaking his head, "she's going to just _shoot him_ one of these days."

Kyo walked away as calmly as he could manage, and went around the side of the house with Meggie. Once out of sight of the others, Kyo held her close and transported.

"You're just going to dig yourself a deeper hole," Meggie warned him, now in her room, "if you keep doing that."

"Oh, like we're not in trouble already." Kyo looked around. "What now?"

She pulled open a drawer of her nightstand, removed a small box--another pregnancy test--and closed it. "_You_ wait here," she said. "_I_ go find out just _how much _trouble we're in."

Kyo waited. Ten seconds seemed like an eternity. He finally had to get up and pace for another minute or so, making contingency plans. If Meggie _was_... Well, if she was, then there was nothing for it--they'd have to come clean to everyone. If they really had to, they could go right back to the meeting and tell them. '_Next order of business..._'

If she wasn't, then they'd fess up anyway. This had gone on long enough. It wasn't right--the strain of the secret made the relationship so difficult.

Kyo checked his watch, and went out into the hall to wait by the bathroom door.

"Are you--" he started to ask, but jumping out of the way to avoid being crushed by the door suddenly flying out interrupted him. "Done?"

Without a word she held out a small strip, identical to the one she'd showed him in the ziploc bag earlier.

Identical including the color.

"Oh god." Kyo took it and scrutinized it closely, as if doing so would change its hue.

Meggie, concerned with how close it was to his face, said "You do know what I did with that, right?"

He held it further away, and said "I guess that's two strikes now, hm?"

"It could still be wrong," she said more hopefully than she felt. "I still might not be..."

"How else can we tell?" Kyo said, not even attempting a hopeful tone. "Go to a doctor?"

"And risk the others finding out--if it's a false alarm, that is." Meggie shook her head. "I've got a better idea. And the best part?" She managed a smile. "She either already knew this was coming, or she's about to get some serious payback."

"You rearranged," observed Gabby when, ten minutes later, Kyo, having finally tracked her down, brought her inside to Meggie's room. "Last time I was in here the desk was over there, and the bed was at a different angle."

"A lot of things have changed since you were last in here," Kyo said, going to sit next to Meggie on the bed. "As I'm sure you already know."

Gabby smiled, sitting before them. "Under the stars..."

Meggie didn't smiled. "You know what's happened?" Gabby nodded. "You know..._everything_ that's happened?"

"If you are referring to your secret relationship--which, although a bit cliche I must tell you, is precisely how I anticipated it--then yes." Gabby's smile faded, her face grew serious. "If you are referring to the son you are carrying, then, again, yes." Kyo took Meggie's hand and squeezed it--it was slippery with persperation. "Now _that_ caught me off guard."

"What do we do?" Meggie's voice was hoarse. "Gabby, we need your help."

"I'm sorry," Gabby said, confused, "you're not happy?"

"Happy?!" exclaimed Meggie shrilly. "I'm sixteen years old, nobody knows I'm even in a relationship, and I'm pregnant! With a mystical being! Has that ever even happened before?! The Old Senshi hasn't--hasn't reproduced yet! I can't get advice--head's ups, tips, _anything_--from_ any _of them. And even if I they had and I could, what use would it be?! Xena's never even been _mortal_ before, let alone a _mother!_ I'm a danger to _myself_, and you want me to be happy about potentially wiping Tokyo _off the face of the __earth_ with _one __**hormonal **__**outburst**__**?!**_"

"You mean like now?" Kyo patted her shoulder soothingly.

"You want me to be happy that our worlds are being turned upside-down as we speak--that we, two idiot teenagers are going to be responsible for another life--that it lives or dies by our decisions? You expect us to be happy about that?"

"So you don't want the child?"

"Not when we're in high school," Kyo said.

"Then give him up." Gabby shrugged, as if it were all so simple. "Give him to a childless couple."

"We can't do that," Meggie said, "we have no idea what kind of...of powers this child could have--the child of the Neomasters' son and a goddess incarnate."

Gabby sighed exasperatedly. "Then what in the name of Gaia do you want me to do?!"

"_Help us,_" said Meggie. "Gabriella. You're my Guardian. Xena's accomplice. You're the only one I--we--could possibly turn to. Please, Gabby."

Gabby looked from one face to the other. She looked conflicted. "I--I can't--" she said quietly. "Fate is--"

"Fine," Kyo snapped, sounding not at all himself, sounding mature, all traces of the fun and laughter and _Kyo_ gone from his voice. "Fine, don't help us. You may be Meggie's only connection to whatever Powers That Be you're connecting us to, but you're not my only one. Or did you forget? I'm the son of the two most powerful Lotis Masters **ever.** I'm technically apprenticed to them--the fact that I have no Lotis powers having nothing to do with this argument--and I am close personal friends with other Masters around the globe eons more powerful than _you._ Come on Meggie," he got up, and pulled Meggie up with him. "Frey's in town. He'll help us." As they made for the door, he said to Gabby "Did you 'anticipate' that, Gabriella? Did you 'foresee' your pawn's boyfriend having a Plan B? Well?"

Gabby hadn't moved an inch. Hesitantly, she said "No. I will admit I did not."

Kyo scoffed. "Did you see any of this happening? Did you really know we'd go and get a child at our age?"

"I always knew it would happen," she said, "but I did not know so soon." She paused, then stood and turned. "You two may have upset the balance of Fate, skewed the very fabric of Time." She fixed upon them her most severe gaze. "There's no telling what will happen now. Tomorrow is an utter mystery to me."

They were silent with shock. Meggie finally croaked "Very comforting."

"Actually, considering you were all supposed to die this summer, I suppose it is."

"Then what was with the high and mighty act?" demanded Kyo.

"Oh, like _you_ haven't ever pulled that one when you're scared beyond belief," Gabby said. "The world as we know it could be in unspeakable danger."

"That's the last time I'm ever sleeping with _you_," Meggie said to Kyo. She looked back at Gabby. "So you'll help us?"

Gabby nodded. "I am, after all," she said, smiling, "Xena's escort. I'm sorry, Meggie. I know what a trying two years this has been for you, and I knew what dangers were ahead of you for the next year, and...and I was frightened of losing you."

"What's happening in the next year?" asked Kyo.

"It doesn't matter now--none of it matters anymore. You may have saved yourselves and all the others as well."

"Hm. Maybe you should sleep with me more _often_," Kyo said, smiling.

"But we must be quick if we're to put Fate back on track--there are many things that must happen for everyone to end up where they're supposed to--Come!" Gabby darted past them, into the hall, and towards the stairs.

"Uh--should I be running?" Meggie said as they followed her.

"Oh. Good point." Gabby turned and, with a running start, leapt up onto Meggie's right arm and scurried up and around to her left shoulder, settling in nicely into the curve of Meggie's neck. "Ah, I missed doing that. Kyo, do you think you can transport us to a Lotis Temple? I think we do need your Plan B."

"Next stop, Yokohama Lotis Temple," said Kyo, quickly pulling Meggie into arms.

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As Meggie was settled in bed in her comfiest sweats with her long-lost cat curled up in her lap, she was starting to see what Gabby had meant about being happy. Hadn't she always said that she'd have fit in better a hundred years ago? Well if she _had_ been born a hundred years ago she and Kyo would probably be a happily married couple with three kids by now.

The visit to the Yokohama Temple had calmed her quite a bit--but now that she thought about it, that could have been some Lotis mumbo-jumbo. But Ari, the Lotis apprentice who had seen them, had seemed extremely trustworthy, and was very helpful in exploring possibilities. He had even offered to look after the child there at the temple until the two of them graduated.

"Have you thought of any names?" asked Gabby, though Meggie had thought she was asleep.

Meggie almost laughed, but didn't want to disrupt the quiet. "I only just found out this was real a couple hours ago."

"All the same, I think 'Gabriel' would round out the family portrait quite nicely."

Now Meggie did laugh. "Quite."

Suddenly, the door flew open, and Emma came darting in, "Meggie! The Shadow's back and he's wreaking absolute havoc and Gabby's in your room." Emma looked from the cat to Meggie. "Why is Gabby in your room?"

"Why does Emma think I can't hear her?" Gabby said, mimicking Emma's tone.

"Gabby and I have come to an understanding," said Meggie, shifting up to a sitting position and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Now what's going on, because I didn't catch _any_ of what you said."

"But why--? Nevermind, bigger problems at the moment," Emma said, going over to Meggie's dresser and digging through drawers, pulling out jeans and a t-shirt and throwing them unceremoniously at her friend. "The Shadow is back."

"What?" Meggie hopped up and quickly began to change her clothes. "He's been gone for months!"

"Well he's making a frickin _entrance_," Emma said, tossing her a hair tie, "he's got a hostage and everything."

"What?!" Meggie exclaimed, quickly pulling her hair back and grabbing her necklace off her bedside table. "Where?!"

"Serena and Darien are coming--they're going to pool their power and try to transport us," Emma said. "Kyo's giving us a lift over to their place. He'll be here any second--come on!" Emma hurried out, and could be heard in the hall saying "NO, Kasadi!"

"Meggie, you're not seriously thinking of going?!" Gabby hissed, as Meggie pulled on her sneakers.

"Sorry Gab, duty calls--you coming or staying?"

Gabby rolled her eyes and climbed onto Meggie's shoulder, and together they headed out and down the stairs.

Downstairs, Emma was explaining to her parents the need for the sudden scurry.

"And so if we don't finish this report _tonight_, we'll lose ten percent of the grade!" she was saying. "So Kyo will be here in a minute to pick us up and we'll be home late." Her parents must have given in, because Emma said "Okay, then I'll see you guys later! Meg, let's **go!**"

Meggie was rushing down the stairs pulling on her jacket when Gabby's words finally caught up with her. She stopped and realized that she couldn't _possibly_ go and fight. She is 100 percent with child and going into this fight could change that very quickly. "Emma! Wait!!" She almost jumped down the last three steps (_almost._)

"Meg, come on. Kyo's here." Emma opened the door and Kyo's car was sitting in the drive way. He saw Meggie and watched her carefully.

"Em. I can't go." Meggie replied hesitantly. Emma whipped around.

"WHAT!?" Emma nearly screamed, but remembered that her parents were in the next room. "Why the hell not!?"

"Emma...I just can't." Meggie stammered, she had no explanation. "But you need to. Go."

"Hell no Meggie. We are are short staffed tonight. Rini is in Kyoto on a trip with the Class officers. We need you! Kyo and I can't do it by ourselves."

"I'll Go!" Kasadi ran into the foyer.

"NO KASADI!" Both of them yelled at the same time.

"Emma, I'm sorry, _ I just can't fight._"

"Meggie Izuma, we don't have time for this. You get in the car and make your case on the way to Serena's apartment. If I'm not convinced that you can't fight, You are going to battle. Now get in the car." Emma was clearly stressed out and pissed off. With Rini gone, she was in charge. Bringing this up now as she was trying to rush out the door was not the way to do it.

"Okay." Meggie said, "Kas, can you unlock our balconies tonight after Chi-Chi and Okaa-san go to bed?"

"Yeah. No problem," Kasadi sighed, once again defeated. Meggie had no idea how she was going to get out of this. She had about five minutes to convince Emma she was unfit to fight, without telling her that she was pregnant.

She got into the front seat of Kyo's can, and in the back, Emma called Rini to tell her what was going on.

"What are you doing!?" Kyo seethed as he started to pull out.

"I tried, but she is pissed. She told me I had to convince her that i'm not fight-worthy before we get to Darien and Serena's."

"What, do you plan on telling her?" Kyo asked, with his eyes on the road.

"I don't see what other choice we have! I don't have any cover story or anything, " Meggie told him, "I'm going to have to." Kyo groaned but nodded, preparing for the worst as Emma got off the phone with Rini.

"Okay, start talking." Emma said uncharacteristically. She was in leader mode, therefore she would take no bullshit.

"Okay, Em. This is what's going on. You see--," Just as she was going spill her guts about this whole conversation, Kyo took a turn onto mainstreet...and she spilled her dinner instead.

"OH, Crap." Emma cried. "Kyo, turn around. Take her home." Emma sighed. "And....get your car cleaned."

As Emma and Kyo recounted the tale to her later that night, the Shadow had put up a fight, giving Emma a mild concussion (as always) and Serena a sprained ankle. Darien had apparently drawn blood at some point, but the villain still got away. They'd been able to collect that blood from the scene, and were planning to give it to Amy for DNA testing at the earliest convenience.

"And so he was all 'I'll be back!'" Kyo said, finishing the epic, "and I was all," here he adopted a British accent, "'Yeah, you run away.'"

Meggie shook her head. "No more YouTube."

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A.N: CONTEST ALERRRTTTTTT!!!! Okay people, anyone who can guess where this line is from: "Yeah, you run away." gets a cameo appearence in Senshi in the City (which will from here on out be known ast SIT-C and WILL BE UP SOON!!!!!!) We promise. =D

And onto further news: WE ARE SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!.....again. We promise, we're getting better. Things are slowing down now sooo YAY!!!

Next Chapter should be posted later tonight, tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

Hope you enjoyed!!


	25. MorningNoonAndNight Sickness

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 23

Everyone watched anxiously as Serena handed over the small vial to Amy, the small amount of crimson liquid inside it swishing innocently within. Amy held it up to the light, tapping the top with her fingernail to rid the fluid of bubbles.

"Well, it looks human enough," she observed. "Youma blood normally gives off an odd color when held up to the light." She closed her hand around it and held it protectively to her stomach, nodding at Serena. "I'll call in some favors and get it tested by forensics."

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Lita asked, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah," Rei agreed, "what if it...goes _boom_ or something?"

"Like I said," Amy assured them, "I'll call in a few favors."

"But this is really good, that we have this evidence. Human or not, we could probably figure out what this person is capable of just by the DNA, right?" Kyo asked.

"Yes and no. If the blood belongs to a human we really won't be able to tell anything other than that it's human. Human blood is pretty bland compared to that of a youma," Amy explained. "But if this is youma, we can tell what race, what species, special powers, and all of that. Youma blood is much more complex, and with just a little bit of analysis it tells you so much more."

"So, depending on what the tests say, it could mean nothing," Emma said.

"Right, unfortunately."

"So what do we do now?" asked Mina.

"We wait," Darien said. "We pray. We prepare."

"Well as long as we're on the subject," Emma said sarcastically, "anybody else got bad news?"

Kyo's eyes flitted to the spot next to Emma, where Meggie normally sat. She was home, with Gabby, working on a way to strengthen some tradtional remedies for morning sickness so they would work on a powerful being such as Meggie and unnamed-fetus.

The damned cat had talked the two of them into keeping the whole situation clandestine for the time being, while she tried to work out how to make sure that they hadn't buggered up the future _too_ much.

After this bit of information, the senshi decided to just sit around and chat. Kyo sat beside Emma. "How's Meggie feeling?"

"Like crap. She was puking all morning and most of the afternoon. She doesn't get sick often, but when she does she's _sick,_" Emma replied, "You would think that her immune system would block out a bug that's going around when it heals gashes across her torso in minutes."

"Yeah..." Kyo agreed. _Too bad this isn't your ordinary stomach flu._

"Kasadi is getting antsy," Emma said, changing the subject. "She hates being out of the loop with all of this. I told her to stay home today and take care of Meggie, and if she was a swearing person, she would have cussed me out like a sailor.....no pun intended."

Kyo smirked, but his mind was still on Meggie. He felt really guilty for all this. He knew that women who are pregnant got sick. But it was called _Morning Sickness! _Not Morning-Noon-And-Night Sickness.

"You know what I mean?" said Emma in conclusion of something Kyo hadn't caught due to the whole mind-elsewhere thing.

"Yeah," he said anyway.

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Emma walked through the door of the house at about noon, after the senshi meeting. She had been feeling slightly calmer about the whole situation now that they had SOME sort of evidence to go by. Or at least, they think they have evidence to go by.

After snagging the cookie jar from on top of the fridge--the place that cookies where hidden from Hotaka--she went upstairs to check on Meggie. She had made it up the stairs just as Kasadi was closing the door to Meggie's room.

"How's she feeling?"

"Icky Sicky," Kasadi replied,"She was throwing up all morning, and finally stopped long enough to fall asleep. I think she was up most of the night, so she's exhausted."

"I see. I hope it's not serious. Mom said that she'd take her to the doctor if she isn't better in the next two days."

"Yeah, I hope she gets better soon." Kasadi looked sympathetically at the closed door, as if she could see Meggie curled up in a little ball under her covers with her stuffed Koala, Edgar. "So, how was the meeting?"

"Well, Amy is taking the blood in for analysis," Emma replied, leading her to her own room, "She thinks it's human, which would be a huge bummer for us, but she's going to take it in anyway and see if there is even a slight mutation in the DNA."

"I see." Kasadi said, "Listen, Em. With Meggie being sick and all, and Rini still in Kyoto maybe-,"

"No, Kasadi." Emma cut her off, know exactly where she was going with this.

"Emma, please. I'm sick of sitting here by myself whyile the rest of you are getting your butts kicked. You need my help!"

"No Kasadi! We've been over this, it's too dangerous. If you go out there, someday, you are going to die. Whether it be your first mission, or your one-hundredth." Emma tried to explain once again to her, without losing her temper.

"I know that, but this is what I have to do. Just like you had to risk everything to make sure that you and Hoshiko, and Sam would have a future. I need to do this Emma!"

"I know where you're coming from Kasadi, I really do. And I'm not trying to be an uber-bitch about this, but it is my responsibility to make sure you stay safe."

"Who the heck determined that!?"

"Kas, you came here for school, not to lose your life fighting some psychopath bent on killing us all."

"I WANT TO FIGHT!" Kasadi screamed. Emma just stared at her, and a few moments later the door opened, with a very groggy looking Meggie standing in the threshold.

"What's going on?" she asked sleepily.

"Meggie, I want to fight." This woke her up.

"No, Kas. I'm sorry." She said sternly.

"I can't believe you two. When you found out I was senshi your were ecstatic."

"And then we found out that you being a senshi is a DEATH SENTENCE!" Emma yelled the last part, tears threatening to just start pouring.

"I'm going to fight, whether you like it or not." Kasadi said as she started for the door. "I'm not a child. I'm 15 years old. I know how to take care of myself. You can't stop me."

"Kasadi, where are you going?" Meggie asked, worriedly, tears forming. Ever since she had gotten "sick" her emotions were running rampant, making it so easy for her to start crying. Which we all know is so very _not_ Meggie.

"I'm going out. I need space. I'll be back later." Kasadi said, before walking out the door. A few minutes later, Emma and Meggie heard the door downstairs slam.

"Dammit." Emma said.

"How did that happen?" Meggie asked.

"She wanted to help since you are out of commission, and Rini is out of town. I told her no,"

"She's going to snap soon, Ems. You know that. What just happened was just the beginning."

"I know, I know. But if we're really lucky, that youma blood will be the beginning to getting rid of Shadow."

"I hope you're right."

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SSS: Please don't kill us. We are really really really really really really sorry. But Junior year kills the sooooullll!!!!!!!

we're trying guys. sorry for the delay in (and shortness of) the post. really.


	26. Q&A

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 24

Kasadi stormed out of the house fuming. Yes, she realized that it looked very strange that she was _upset_ about not being allowed to fight in battle considering that she was a bigger pacifist than Emma, the Queen of "Can't We All Just Be Friends?" Land. But, Fudge Nuggets, this was her destiny! She knew that she had come to Japan for a reason, and it wasn't to attend the most prestigious Preparatory Academy in the World.

"_Lord_, I just wish I was home!" Kasadi said to herself as she made the turn out of Suburban Tokyo to Urban Tokyo. "I wish I never came to Japan, that I never found out who I was. That I was just home and eating Home-made Macaroni and Cheese." Just as she said this, she passed a small little restaurant, with a sign in bright red and gold letters – "Old Country Buffet."

She stopped, looked to the Heavens Above, said, "Oh, you're good," and walked in.

After filling herself with Macaroni and Cheese, Home-made Apple Pie, and a Twice Baked Potato with all the fixin's (In that order), her anger towards her cousin started to simmer down a bit. She knew that Emma and Meggie were only trying to protect her. She also knew that if the roles were switched, she would have just sent them straight back to America for their protection. So by the time she finished her meal, she was almost not angry anymore. **Almost.**

And so when she left the restaurant, Kasadi decided that she wasn't quite ready to head home yet. Instead, she opted to walk another block to the movies and see _Horton Hears a Who._ Twice. _That's_ when she ended her afternoon of blowing off steam, and started to head for home.

During the few weeks that she'd actually fought with the Senshi, her senses had enhanced enough to be able to pick up the smallest things. She could smell a woman's perfume through a restaurant window and from across a bridge, she could tell exactly what school's uniform a child was wearing, as she passed an apartment building, she could hear a couple arguing from the top floor. All these things she knew, while she was barely paying attention to her surroundings; these skills were the reason that, at that precise moment, Kasadi knew who was following her.

She played it cool once she realized who it was. She kept walking calmly, occasionally stopping to look into a shop window if something caught her eye, picking up a pacifier a baby dropped – little things, so as not to let her stalker know that she knew he was there.

She was a block away from home when she made the sharp turn into the alley. She ducked behind a dumpster and waited. All but ten seconds passed before he followed.

A few seconds of waiting for the right moment, and then...

She leapt out from behind the dumpster, grabbing the man and latching onto him like a child riding on her father's back.

"Agh! Hell – get off me! I come in peace!"

"Says the demonic being!" retorted Kasadi, tightening her grip.

"I'm not going to hurt you, you crazy chick, so get off me!"

Kasadi paused for only a second. "You _promise_ you'll be nice?"

"Girl Scout's frickin honor!"

Kasadi slid off his back and leaned against the wall of the alley. The Shadow staggered to the other wall, clutching his throat and swearing under his breath.

"With a mouth like that, you're on the wrong side," observed Kasadi, sitting down at the base of the wall. "You should be a Sailor."

"What does _that_ have to do with – oh. Ha ha ha. Sailor Funny Bone, are you?"

"No, Sailor Irrelevant."

"Huh. How ironic." The Shadow slid down the wall into a sitting position, so that they now sat opposite one another in the narrow alleyway, almost toe-to-toe.

"How do you mean?"

"Well...I was created to kill you. That's pretty much my reason for being."

"Not 42?"

"And I just find it wildly ironic that I should understand exactly how you feel, when really we shouldn't have anything in common at all."

Kasadi snorted. "How are we alike _at all?_"

"Well for one we were both born with a self-destruct button. For another, we were both sadly disappointed by poor mentors."

"I have _great_ mentors!" Kasadi snapped.

"Mentors who don't teach… Isn't that a bit oxymoronic?"

To that Kasadi had no reply.

They were silent for a moment. The sounds of cars and horns and people seemed so far away, as if the two of them were underwater, cushioned from the world.

It was Kasadi who finally broke the relative silence.

"Why?" she asked simply, not realizing that he wouldn't understand the specific question, having not heard the thought process behind it.

"To get to the other side," he replied.

"No – sorry – I meant…I meant why do you…do what you do?" Kasadi wasn't holding back now. She had been forced to hold back for months and she was so sick of it. "You honestly seem like a decent person. I mean, just sitting here and talking to you, and listening to you… You don't seem evil." He didn't answer. Kasadi continued. "So my question is…why do you do it, if you don't have to?"

It was a long, quiet moment before the Shadow answer. Hoarsely, softly, he replied, "I do have to."

Something in Kasadi snapped. "No you don't!" she shouted. "This isn't a game you play for the fun of it! Every move is calculated, it has a purpose – a reason. You have a reason. Now what is it?!"

"It's tradition, I suppose," he said, only slightly shaken by her outburst. "A long proud lineage of bastards screwing over bastards. I didn't hop on this bandwagon for myself, and I sure as hell can't get off."

"But WHY?!"

"**BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT MY SOUL!!**"

A shocked stillness fell on the alleyway. Kasadi said nothing, and the noises of the city seemed nonexistent.

"You think I want to follow their orders? You think I want to hurt people? You think I want to – to burn in hell?!" Shadow clenched his fists, a rigid, tensed form, every muscle in his body taut with fury. "Of course I don't. **Of course I don't.** But I have **no choice.** Trust me; if I did….I sure as hell wouldn't be doing this…kidnapping you I mean. Fighting you. I don't want to be here. Well…yes, I do. I want to be with you…but not like this. Never like this."

"You know…we've only met two other times before tonight…those are pretty strong words for the third date." Kasadi chuckled and she was sure that if he wasn't wearing the mask, Shadow would have smiled.

"Well, let's just say the Silver Shadow is only my night job…"

The conversation had gone silent again as Kasadi pondered what he just said. Shadow was staring at the ground, with his head hung and Kasadi just continued to look at him.

Once again, Kasadi brought the conversation back to life. "How do they have your soul?" Shadow was quiet for a long time, and she had almost given up on getting an answer out of him when he finally spoke.

"Well….It's not like they extracted my soul and stuck it in a jar or something. That's way too _Angel_," he began to explain, "My soul is still there…I just don't have the copyrights to it. As my nighttime self…I remember everything my daytime self does. He doesn't know I exist, but I recall both our memories. That's why I'm not just some emotionless, stoic…'_It_.' That's why they've got leverage on me. That's why I remember you."

"Say quoi?"

"Tell you what: if we live past this, I'll explain everything."

"I'll hold you to that."

Neither moved, locked in a staring contest that was not nearly so simple. Kasadi tried to probe into his head through his eyes, just visible behind the mask, for eyes are indeed so often the gateways to the soul. But they were cast in shadow, shaded by the silver accessory.

Even though, she stared, trying vainly to find the good soul she just knew had to be trapped behind that gleaming barricade.

"You realize," Shadow started, "I still have to take you into custody… An…admittedly atypical and extremely memorable Heart-to-Heart doesn't change that."

"Yeaaaah," said Kasadi, shrugging, "but hey, we got to stall for a while."

"Yeah." Shadow was the first to stand up and he held out his hand to help her up. The moment she grabbed it, he jerked her up, just a tad too fast and forcefully, and she stumbled, tripping over her feet and twirling. She felt herself fall backwards, and when she thought she was going to make contact with the pavement Shadow's arm flew around her back while the other supported her neck. From far away it would have looked like they had just finished off a tango with deep, extravagant dip.

Their faces were inches from each other when Shadow whispered, trying to make light of it, "Shall we dance?"

And that's where it clicked in Kasadi's head. Memories flashed before her mind's eye as a scene in a strobe light, memories of a place that seemed so far off, one that geographically was but chronologically really wasn't all that far behind them. The smell of wood and paint, and the sandpapery feel of his callused hands, these callused hands… And above and beneath and through all of it, the voice that she finally truly heard, finally picked out from amid the coarse disguise, saying those exact words.

"What?" she whispered, barely audible.

Shadow quickly pulled her back to his feet, realizing what he'd just done. But he didn't let go of her.

Kasadi thought back to the past four months. How every time she came in contact with the mysterious Silver Shadow, it was like constant déjà vu.

"We should go," he said, dropping his arms and turning around.

"No, I have a better idea." She grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and ripped off his mask.

They both froze on the spot, neither knowing what they should or could do. Kasadi was in shock, and he was trying not to lose his head.

"No…Hiro…" she choked out, tears threatening to spill.

Hiro spun around, as if he was just going to take off, but soon stopped with his hands in fists at his side. He then spun around again and stared at her straight in the face. His eyes were darkened, they seemed veiled, and his face contained none of its usual natural and inherent kindness for her. He was Hiro…without access to a soul.

He stared at her a moment, at a loss for words.

"Well," he finally said, the vocal disguise now useless since she knew what to listen for, "since now we're both going to die –" He rushed up to her, put his hand behind her neck and kissed her full on the mouth. Kasadi froze, still taking in on what had just happened, and just when her brain started working again and telling her to kiss him back, he disappeared.

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	27. Mission Improbable

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 25

_In William Shakespeare's _Taming of the Shrew_ how do gender roles affect the attitudes of the characters and how do these roles surface in the play?_

Kasadi stared at the question that was half way through her Language Arts end-of-quarter exams.

_End-of-quarter exams kill my soooouuullll_, she thought to herself as she muddled through an entire semester of Classic Literature crammed into about ten pages. It wasn't that she didn't know the information that was causing her to have so much trouble. It was the fact that she had so many other things on her mind.

Hiro being the bad guy, for one.

Well, was he actually the bad guy? He had explained that Day-Time-Hiro did not know anything of Night-Time-Hiro's crimes and also Night-Time-Hiro had no choice but to commit those crimes due to the small issue of him having no rights to his own soul. She still hadn't gotten the story of how he got in this position anyway…he was gone before she could ask.

In the weeks – months even – leading up to the night before, Kasadi had realized that she was quickly developing feelings for Hiro. After spending so much time together in Drama Club and New York City, it was bound to happen. Ever since that day at the coffee shop, she had the butterflies.

It was so much simpler even then. Yes, it was at the point where she couldn't fight with the Senshi, but then, she didn't have a reason to other than to just help her friends. But now…she had to save the person that she had some seriously deep feelings for…and she didn't know how much time she had to do that.

Which is why she had decided that as soon as she finished this exam, she was going to go find him. Yes, she'd be missing three more tests, but hell…it's not like she was going to need those scores at the end of this anyway…

By the time Kasadi reached Tokyo Central, she knew that it was lunch time for the senior high, and could already see crowds of white and blue gathering in the courtyard. The real question was, where was the specific gaggle of blue and white she was looking for?

Rini's pink hair stood out among the sea of mostly black and brown. She stood with Katsuro and Kyo. Soon after, she saw Meggie and Sam join her as they headed to a large sakura tree on the far end of the green.

Getting that far on school property would be difficult. Especially since her own uniform was vastly different than Tokyo Central. You know…with the sweater vest and all….oh yeah, and it's _maroon_.

Kasadi thought hard. How was she going to get over to the gang without getting noticed by either a school official or the gang itself. She scanned the court yard, seeing if she could pull off some sort of _Mission Impossible_ stunts and stealthily make her way over to where her friends were sitting. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything. Not a bush, statue, or tree…besides the one that Meggie, Rini, their respective boys (yes, she was counting Kyo – she still refused to give up hope on those two) and Sam were sitting under.

If only there was a way for her to magically appear in that tree above them…

_Oh wait…_

Of course there was a way. She was a Senshi, which obviously meant she had the ability to transport!

_But Darien doesn't let us transport without one of the Inners or Outers….Oh forget it, I already ditched school, might as well earn my detention properly. _

Kasadi looked at the tree and saw a branch that was just far enough above the group that she wouldn't be seen, but not too far to not hear what they are saying. She then closed her eyes and then focused on that branch. She pictured herself perched on the branch looking down. She focused for about thirty seconds, until she suddenly felt little pin pricks all over her body, much like the kind you get when your foot falls asleep.

Then she felt the firmness of the branch beneath her, supporting, and she opened her eyes to find herself perched carefully in the tree.

"– I mean _seriously_, I should hire a lawyer!" fumed Meggie.

"I'll be surprised if he doesn't," chuckled Sam.

"I bet he's gay," said Katsuro. "And he hits on you nonstop so no one will suspect. You know, like Kyo does."

Kyo set his mouth in a thin line. He disliked this. He disliked it very much. "Why do you guys hate me so much?"

"Because you love us too much to do anything about it," replied Rini.

Kyo looked about to retort, but then shrugged in acceptance.

Just then, Emma came over and flopped down next to her significant other. "Hey guys. What's new?"

"Aki's a moron," Sam filled her in.

"I said _new_, hun. Anyway, sorry I'm a little late. I had to get this from Mr. Yamatari." She tossed a magazine at Meggie. "It's for my science report."

"Uh, okay," said Meggie, confused.

"And I think that you'll find page seven interesting," said Emma with a smirk.

Meggie flipped to page seven and began to read. Suddenly, she burst out, "WHAT?! WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?! THEY CAN'T _DO_ THIS!!"

"What, what's wrong?" asked the group.

"They're renaming my planet! 'Eris.' Who the hell decided that?!"

"You, uh, might want to keep your voice down a little –"

"And I'm no longer a planet!!" exclaimed Meggie.

This made everyone just as flabbergasted as her. "WHAT?!" they all shouted.

"I…" She looked at them, at a loss. Her lip quivered – she'd been acting so weird lately, so _emotional_. "I'm a Dwarf Planet."

They were all quiet for a moment. It was Katsuro who broke the silence.

"Have they…have they _seen_ you…?" Kyo Gibbs-slapped him. "OW!! What the hell, Kyo?!"

"Don't be an ass," said Kyo, seeing how Meggie was about to cry.

"I'm not! She's like, what, 175 centimeters? A-hundred-eighty?"

"A-hundred-eighty-and-a-half!" said Meggie, bursting into tears.

"Meg," said Kyo, scooching closer to her in the grass. "Being a…a _Dwarf_ Planet…it just means you're cuter than the other planets."

Amid the tears, she smiled at him, and he smiled back.

They remembered the presence of the others and looked at them, and were met with strange, confused, even fearful gazes.

In an instinctive, knee-jerk reaction, Meggie slapped Kyo clear across the face, knocking him backwards onto the ground. Their friends shrugged and returned to normal.

Kasadi, up in the tree, was just thinking of trying to transport out of there, to someplace that might be more informative, when Aoi, the student manager from Drama Club, walked over and asked, "Hey, have any of you seen Hiro today? He was going to design some decorations for the end-of-year dance."

_Okay, now we're getting somewhere_, thought Kasadi.

"Oh, so you won the vote?" asked Emma. "You're Dance Committee president?" Aoi nodded happily. "Congrats."

"So have you seen him? I know he kinda runs with you guys from time to time."

"Not today," said Kyo. "He wasn't in class. At least, none of the ones he has with me."

"Same here," added Sam.

A girl from another group a few yards away overhead them and said. "You mean Hiro Kamasuni?"

"Yeah," said Aoi.

"I do secretary work in the Attendance Office during my free periods," said the girl. "Today the principal was asking if his grandson was in school. He seemed worried when I checked and said no."

"Oh. Well I'll have to call him later, then." Aoi turned and left.

_He's gone_. The thought shot through Kasadi like an arrow. _It's started._

For a split second, she considered dropping down into the scene and telling them…everything. Well, maybe not the fact that she was quite possibly madly in love with the bad guy, but that he was the bad guy perhaps.

But they'd tell her to go home. In fact, there was a very great possibility that they'd have Sam and Katsuro forcibly relocate her to her room. Maybe even Kyo's underground lair, so they'd have the added power of Lotis masters.

_No_, she thought. _No, this is something_ I've _got to do._

It was admittedly unlikely she'd get away from this as she'd been. She refused to even think of the word "die," in the fear of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But if it was for her friends, the world…then she could do it. It was for Hiro. It was for _her_ world. And without her world, what reason was there to live anyway?

She concentrated on being in Emma's room, perhaps too far a distance, but time was of the essence. She concentrated harder than she'd even concentrated before, and disappeared.

A shoe fell from the tree and struck Kyo squarely on the head.

"Ow!" he yelped. He rubbed his head and picked up the weapon. Perplexed, he looked up into the tree and saw no one. "Some idiot left a shoe in the tree!" He frowned, looking at the shoe. "_**Porque??!!**_"

Emma took the thing from him. "Let me see that." She studied it closely. "It's not one of our school's."

"How can you tell?" asked Rini.

"Well for one it's not black," replied Emma.

"Yes it is," said Sam.

"No," Kyo took it back, "it's…maroon. Really dark maroon. And it's a Mary Jane." He handed it to Rini, who was holding out her hand expectantly, wanting to examine the evidence herself. "Our school issues loafers."

"You are _so_ gay," said Katsuro.

Kyo was about to retort, and started to say, "You know _WHAT_ –" but Rini interrupted, asking the group at large, "What school issues _maroon Mary Janes?_"

They all sat in thought for a moment. Emma, as was her wont, gnawed on her knuckle.

Sam noticed this, and said, "Sweetie, you know you shouldn't do that. You're gonna bite it _off_ one of these days."

"What, you want me to bite _you?_" she asked.

He paused. "If I say yes, will you?"

She looked taken aback, an eyebrow quirking, but she quickly recovered, saying, "That depends. You got a ring?"

Another pause. He looked over at Kyo. "Kyo. Do you love me?"

"Ye–" began Kyo, but then he stopped himself and reconsidered, glaring at Katsuro. "No."

Katsuro snorted and leaned back against the tree, crossing his arms nonchalantly.

Sam continued as if Kyo's answer was irrelevant – which it was. "Gimme all your quarters."

Emma had to laugh.

Suddenly Kyo snapped his fingers. The others looked at him inquisitively. He looked as if he wasn't sure whether he should be confused, proud of himself, or worried.

"Tokyo Academy's colors are white…and maroon."

Each of their faces lit up with realization, then worry and fear. Each of them slowly started to grasp the idea that a gaping hole could be about to invade their lives, where Kasadi belonged.

Someone sniffled. The group looked around itself, searching for the source. They found it in an unlikely place.

"…Meggie?" said Rini incredulously.

Meggie looked around the group, tears streaming down her face. "Can I still be a Senshi?" she asked. She sobbed, "I wasn't always like this!" and curled in on herself. Suddenly she sat up again and punched Kyo in the face, and blood sprayed from his nose, getting all over Sam.

He cried out and grabbed his face. Meggie slapped her hands over her mouth in terror and surprise at her own actions.

"Oh, god – Kyo – dammit!"

"Owowowowowowow!!!!" Kyo wailed. He said something that was distorted by the injury, his hands trying to stop the flow of blood from the injury, and the pain from the injury in his voice.

"What?" Meggie asked.

"HOME!" he shouted.

"His parents can use Lotis," said Emma, as Meggie and Katsuro helped Kyo up.

"I drove in today," said Sam. "Come on, let's go."

It was a short drive to the Wakamiyas' house, and when they pulled into the driveway, they were relieved to see a car there. Meggie ran ahead to alert the Wakamiyas' while Sam helped Kyo.

"Alice!" Meggie shouted in the foyer. "Kyo!" Kyo Sr. stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Oh, thank god," she said. "I – uh – we need help. Lotis help."

"Okay," he quickly put to a halt his cooking so he could leave it for a moment.

As Sam and Kyo went up the walkway, Emma and Rini were busily discussing what could possibly be going on with Kasadi and Katsuro was hovering around them, offering his opinion when relevant.

"What's she thinking?" Emma demanded of the universe. "Cutting school? In the middle of midterms?!"

"The only way she could have gotten up that tree unnoticed is to transport," said Rini. "She knows we're not allowed to do that."

"Kasadi wouldn't break a rule like that," interjected Katsuro.

"Not unless she had a damn good reason," Emma said as they followed Sam and Kyo into the house.

"Oh jeeze," said Kyo's father when he saw his son. "What did you do?"

"A multitude of things," replied Kyo, covertly glancing at Meggie.

The older of the two Kyos rolled his eyes, and motioned for the younger to remove his hand. He did, and the others, out of respect for their friend, tried to keep their noises of disgust silent. Kyo the younger's nose wasn't just broken. It was _demolished_.

Kyo's look of resign seemed to mean he knew better than any of them how bad it was.

"Good _god_, Kyo…" murmured his father.

"Dad," he said in a strained voice, "I can't breathe."

Kyo the older carefully placed his hand over Kyo's face, trying not cause his son any further harm or pain, and said, "_Jiva!_"

There was a _crack!_ and Kyo's nose snapped back to normal. Apparently it was quite painful, as he yelled out. But then he felt his nose gingerly and seemed to be all right.

"Better?" asked his father.

"Yeah," said Kyo, "a lot. Still sore, but I can breathe so we're good." He held up his hands, still cupping blood. "…I'm gonna go shower. For a week."

He went off to his room in the basement to clean up.

Meggie could have smacked herself. _I am such an idiot_, she thought.

_No you're not_, said the little voice she was getting accustomed to. _You're my mommy._ She almost smiled. She was starting to get used to that, too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kasadi tore through her house as soon as she transported back home. She realized immediately that her shoe had been left behind, and there was a high probability that Emma and Meggie were trying to figure out a way to ditch school themselves at that very moment.

But, she couldn't worry about that right now…

It didn't take long to hunt down her mask. She'd had to put it in a box on the top shelf in her closet to take away the temptation of storming off after the gang every time they got called out to duty.

She'd completely forgotten that it had been broken, back when she'd been unmasked, and for a moment, when she found it, she was angry, thinking someone had stolen it from her room and cracked it in two. But then she remembered that day, when everything had changed, and a somberness fell over her. She couldn't really say that that was the day it all changed, because it had been changing for a while, and it had been changing since. It was still changing, and it would continue to change after today.

_Even after I die_, she thought. _It'll all go on changing._

After retrieving the maroon mask, the one she hadn't seen in months, she walked to her desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

She began writing.

_Dear Emma and Meggie,_

_I know it's a great possibility that this is my last letter to you…._

She ripped the paper up and tossed it into her trash can, and started again.

_I know you two are probably furious with me and thinking of ways to lock me up for the rest of my natural life…_

No good.

_I found out that Hiro is the Silver Shadow…He's possessed somehow….I need to save him, I love him…_

No no no. She wasn't ready to admit that. Kasadi glared at her paper. She didn't know how she was going explain this. But time was against her, and she couldn't spend too much of it writing a Goodbye letter to her best friends….

Finally, she just decided to put down two simple words and hope that they would make the connection.

"What are you doing?"

Kasadi folded the paper and looked over at the doorway. "Fulfilling a prophecy. Isn't that what you're here trying to ensure?"

Gabriella shook her head. "You should wait for the others. It's suicide to go on your own."

"For me, being _born_ was suicide," retorted Kasadi. "And you know it. '_Ashes to ashes, dust to dust_,' and all that. I was born with a self-destruct button."

"You can't simply accept –"

"Did you know?" interrupted Kasadi as she went to her dresser and started pulling out clothes.

"Beg pardon?"

"Did you know it was Hiro?"

Gabby shook her head. "I did not. I did not realize that the proverbial baton had been passed."

"Yeah," said Kasadi, as she changed into sweatpants and one of those tank tops, " that's something I've been wondering about. He said something about his mentor…"

"His name is Mordae. He's an ancient warrior, who sacrificed his younger brother's soul so that a demon could take control of the body. After seeing the destruction caused by this act, he was recruited to evil."

"What destruction?"

"Oh, the demon possessing the empty shell that had been young Mordred caused much chaos and did many evil things."

"Why did he do it?" asked Kasadi, aghast and momentarily forgetting her mission. "Why'd he sacrifice his little brother?"

"Why else commit senseless evil in those days? He wanted Mordred's power – and there was a girl, too." Gabby shook her head. "That's when he caught the attention of Diamond."

"Diamond?" The name sounded familiar. Oh, wasn't he a villain? Last year's model? Meggie seriously ka-putted his ass? Yeah, that sounded about right.

"Listen, Diamond was a very, _very_ dangerous man. Anyone associated with him is equally dangerous now. I shudder to think what soulless demon Mordae has made an apprentice of."

"He's not soulless!" Kasadi shouted quite suddenly. She quickly regained her composure. "He's… He's Hiro. He's Hiro, and I have to save him." She sidestepped the cat and started down the hall.

Gabby jumped in her way. "You have to wait for the others. Just call them, and –"

"No. I'm the only one I'm willing to risk."

"I can't allow you to –"

Wordlessly, Kasadi picked up the cat, opened Meggie's bedroom door, tossed her inside, and shut the door tight.

Gabby scratched frantically at the door. "KASADI!! KASADI, DON'T – DAMMIT, I NEED OPPOSABLE THUMBS!!"

Kasadi took both the letter and the broken mask downstairs and placed them on the living room coffee table. She turned and looked around the room. It seemed like a long, long time had passed since she'd been sitting on that couch. A lifetime since they'd held a Heath Ledger movie marathon. Forever since Rini had helped her move the coffee table and then taught her how to cartwheel. How many times had the three girls living in this house spent an entire night sitting on this very floor, talking about hopes and dreams, short term and long term goals, ideal boys and the ones that were close enough, and what the world might someday be, if they could fight it through to the end.

They could be one huge step closer to that world, and she, Kasadi Mitrow, of Montrose, Pennsylvania, was the one who could bridge the gap to it.

_Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…_ It had been so long since she'd last read her Bible, and the thought made her feel guilty. But she could remember that famous verse, Genesis 3: 19:

_In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread_

_Till you return to the ground,  
For out of it you were taken;  
For dust you __are,__  
And to dust you shall return._

Suddenly, she chuckled to herself. Little more than minutes ago, she was thinking Mission Impossible. Now she was taking on Mission Improbable.

Silent and smiling ruefully, Kasadi transformed, and transported.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It only took Kyo a few minutes to shower and change. By the time he'd come back up to the living room, his father had apparently used another Lotis word, _Kara_, to give everyone some extra protection.

They'd also all apparently figured out who was going where. Sam and Katsuro, it appeared, were going to be staying with Kyo Sr., keeping track of the battle as best as possible via news reports.

"Though," Sam said as he kissed Emma goodbye, "with you all, no news coverage is good news coverage."

Rini kissed Katsuro goodbye, and Kyo looked at Meggie. She looked like she shared his thoughts. They'd been stupid. The annual spring battle (funny how it always worked out that way) was upon them, and there was always a possibility that someone wouldn't walk away. What if they never got the chance to tell their friends about the two of them? Or, rather, the three of them?

"Hey, Kyo, can I borrow a shirt?" asked Sam, motioning to his own shirt, which was covered in Kyo's blood.

"Likewise," added Katsuro, looking down at himself. His shirt was also bloody, though not quite spectacularly so as Sam's.

"Yeah, go ahead. Top drawer in the dresser."

As the two boys went downstairs, Kyo fished his car keys out of his pocket and hit the unlock button. "We can take my car – it's in the garage. Down the hall, door on the left."

Emma and Rini nodded and darted out of the room. Meggie turned to follow them but Kyo grabbed her and kissed her quickly.

"I love you," he said firmly. "Anything that happens today won't change that."

"I know," she said. "I love you too."

One more quick kiss, then they had to join the others in the car. With any luck, Emma pointed out as they drove off, Kasadi was still at home, putting together a plan.

_But_, thought Kyo privately, _even when I get lucky…I still get screwed._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_AN: Sorry about that last joke. Originally we had a stronger word there, but we didn't want to risk getting reported because our rating is Teen._


	28. Reflections

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 26

"Kyo, stay here," said Rini as she, Emma and Meggie got out of the car. "Keep the car running. I'll go in just in case we need a distraction."

"Kasadi!" Emma called before she was even over the threshold. "Kasadi, are you here?"

"Emma?" Emma's mother came into the hall from the living room. "Emma – Meggie? Rini? What are you all doing here? Why aren't you in school?"

"Half day," said Emma quickly – she'd thought this over. Something caught her eye in the living room. Something dark on the coffee table. She went closer to investigate, as her mother said, "No it's not. It would have been on the calendar –" The phone started to ring in the kitchen, and she went to answer it, promising to "be right back, missy!"

Emma didn't pay attention. She was focusing on the object on the table. Slowly, carefully, as if it was extremely fragile, like a dream that disappears as soon as you open your eyes, she picked it up.

"It's Kasadi's mask," she said quietly. "She's gone."

Meggie picked up a piece of paper from the table. "Oh god."

"What is it?" Rini asked. She took the note from Meggie and read it aloud, "'He's Hiro.'"

Emma's insides went cold and clammy. "The Shadow? Hiro? O-our Hiro? No – no, that's not – it's impossible!"

"But if Hiro's the Shadow," said Meggie slowly, coming to the horrible conclusion herself, "then…then we…"

"No!" said Emma. "No, we can't!"

"And if it comes down to him or Kasadi?" asked Rini softly, gravely.

Emma tried to force calm, even breaths. "We won't let it come to that."

"I'll get Gabby," said Meggie, dashing up the stairs.

"We'll be in the car," Emma called after her.

Just then, Beth came back in. "Car? Where do you think you're going? I just got off the phone with your principal – you all cut school?"

"Mom, it – it was an emergency! Uh, Kyo broke his nose, and –"

"Why didn't he go to the school nurse?" Beth's arms were crossed and her foot was tapping angrily. This couldn't end well.

Meanwhile, Meggie burst into her room, calling, "Gabriella! Gabby!"

The cat sat resignedly on the windowsill. "I tried to stop her, but she shut me in here. Meggie…I'm so sorry."

Meggie picked up the cat and hugged her tightly. "It's not your fault, Gabby."

There was a tapping sound. Kyo was at the sliding glass door. Gabby hopped out of her arms and onto the bed as Meggie let him in.

He instantly put his arms around her. "She's gone after the Shadow, hasn't she?"

"Yes." Meggie looked up at him. "I don't know if we're all coming back this time, Kyo. We've never gone up against a prophecy before – this is Fate we're screwing with, here!"

"You can't go," said Kyo suddenly.

"Wh…what? Kyo, of course I'm going to go! This is Kasadi we're talking about here!"

"No, this is our son we're talking about," he said. "Do you remember the last time we went up against the Big Bad? You almost died. It was a hell of a miracle that you didn't. It won't take much, Meg – one blow to the abdomen, one push to the ground, and…and he's gone. I can't risk that."

"We risk it every single day," argued Meggie. "I risk everything everyday, and I do it gladly, for the things and ideas and people that I love."

"What about the baby?" replied Kyo. "Aren't you willing to do whatever is necessary to keep him safe?"

"Of course I am, Kyo!" she exclaimed, hurt deeply by what he was implying. "Starting with taking down this villain! One step closer to the kind of world I want him to be born into!" She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. "Kyo… If I sit this one out, I…I will never forgive myself." She looked at him. "You can't stop me. But I'd like it if you didn't try."

He sighed, frustrated. "Please promise me something?" She nodded. "You stick with me. Every second. You're offense, I'm defense. I take the hit, every time. Got it?"

"Kyo, I can't let you –"

"I can keep you out of this, Meggie," he said. "I can stop you, and I think you know I can. I don't want to do that, but –"

"Fine," she replied. "Fine, I'll do what you say."

"Thank you." He kissed her forehead. "When this is all over, we're telling them. Everyone. We'll just come clean about everything. We can't put it off any longer."

"You're right," she agreed. "We can't. We need their help – with a lot of things."

"I've never had any luck with the Lotis," said Kyo, "but maybe he will. Can you tell him to concentrate on the word 'Kara?'"

"I'll try." Hey, little guy. Can you –

I heard him. 'Kara?'

"Right," she whispered aloud.

"We had better get going," said Gabby.

"Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be waiting in the car." Kyo held out his hand to Meggie, and the two of them transported down to the yard.

Downstairs, Emma was fighting a losing battle.

"I can't believe this!" her mother was yelling at her. "You've never done anything like this before!"

"Mom, it was an emergency!" countered Emma. "And I – I will explain later, I promise, but right now I've got to –"

"No, you will explain right now, Emma Hanzo."

"I can't, Mom, I've really got to –"

Rini was fed up. She pushed past Emma. "Oh, for the love of –" She snapped her fingers, pointed at Beth, and said quickly, "Hear me now and then no more, I am the Lady of the Lunar Shore. Forget you now these things you've seen, leave them as they would have been."

A blank look came over Beth's face, and then she turned and went into the kitchen.

Emma turned to Rini, horrified. "What the hell did you do to my mother?"

"Simple spell, I use it all the time. It helps keep my cover intact, when it's just little stuff like 'Hey, you're not in this family photo…' Big stuff like 'Where's your birth certificate?' requires more invasive procedures. Come on, let's go!" Rini grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her behind herself, darting out the front door and to the car.

As they passed the kitchen, Emma could hear Beth picking up the phone – but it hadn't rung. Was she reenacting the phone from ten minutes ago? That must be it.

"Go!" said Rini as she and Emma dove into the backseat. "Go go go go!"

"On it." Kyo tore out of the driveway and down the street. "Where to?"

Rini took just a few seconds to think. Where to, indeed…

"Serena's," she said finally. "We need experienced hands guiding us this time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What!" Serena shrieked. Emma, Meggie, Rini and Kyo ran into hers and Darien's apartment. Serena had been waiting there for Darien because they were going to go out that night, but when they explained what had happened, Serena realized that Date Night would have to be postponed.

"She went after him. And she's going to fight, and try to save him...and it means that the prophecy will come true, and she'll die" Rini added to the previous explanation. "We need the help of you and the rest of the Senshi..."

"Darien and I are the only one's in town right now..." Serena replied, in a daze while letting the information sink in.

"It's spring break...that's why my mom was home this afternoon..." Emma sighed.

"And Hotaru is in Osaka with her father...visiting her mother's parents" Rini said.

"Serena, please.."Meggie said. "We need help." Serena nodded.

"I'll get my broach. Rini, call Darien. He's working at the Airport tonight...his shift will be almost over." Serena walked away to her room to get ready.

Emma paced around the room. Earlier, she had been angry, but now, she was scared out of her mind. She couldn't understand why this would keep happening. The first time she had to fight for someone's life, it was Sam and Hoshiko. The following year, Meggie was in danger. Now, it was Kasadi, and though she didn't want to think about it, she didn't see a way to get around Kasadi dieing. They've never had to fight against a prophecy before...

That is why she told Kasadi not to fight, because she knew that she probably wouldn't be able to save her...But then again, she did tell Kasadi only use her powers in a life or death situation...

I should have specified with HER life or death...

Kyo on the other hand was more worried about Meggie and the baby. Of course he was worried about Kasadi as well, but Meggie was so much more vulnerable right now than ever before.

Sure, with all the hormones and magical powers mixed together, Meggie is a killing machine even when she isn't transformed. But...he couldn't shake this feeling that he should have taken her necklace, locked her in her room and left her there until the battle was over.

She'd castrate me with a pair of hedge clippers... Kyo thought grimly, crossing his legs at the thought.

After Rini got off the phone with Darien, she did some reflecting of her own. She looked at Emma and saw how scared she was. Last time they were in this situation, Rini hadn't been very supportive. When it was Meggie in danger, she saw it as a lost cause, and tried to get Emma to see it the same way. She almost destroyed her friendship that way.

Now, looking at Meggie, she couldn't believe she had been such an arrogant...well..bitch. Meggie was a huge part of the senshi now...a huge part of the family that Rini had built in the past few years since setting up base in her mother's teenaged years. She thought back to when she was about nine years old. The older Sailor Xena came to the palace right before she left...

'Now Rini, when you go to the past, and you meet a girl named Emma, treat her with respect. She is a great friend. She will love having you as a friend.'

She hadn't remembered what she was told, or made the connection of who told her until after Meggie had become a permanent part of the Senshi...but ever since, she's tried to live up to her promise...and she's been trying to make it up to Emma after how she acted.

I'm not going to let her down this time...

Meggie stood in the corner. She also knew that she was at a huge risk here. Both herself, and her baby. She understood that Kyo wanted her stay back at home, where she was safe. But she couldn't abandon Kasadi. She reluctantly agreed to let Kyo take any hits that come at them. She knew that it was the safest way to do this, without being left at home, worried.

She never thought that she would be a teenaged mom...She never thought she'd be a mom ever. Even now, she is so afraid of failing her son. But she loved him. And she would do anyting to protect him.

'I love you too, Mommy' Meggie smiled to herself, and looked over to Kyo, who gave her a small smile.

He'll keep me safe, he'll keep our baby safe...I just need to keep Kasadi safe...

Everyone jumped from their thoughts, when Darien rushed through the door.

"Do we know where she went?"

"No..." Emma said sadly. "Just that she went after Hiro..."

"And I'm taking it that we don't know where he is.."

"Not a clue," Meggie said.

"Okay then...we'll split up." Darien said, just as Serena came back from the bedroom.

"I'll go with Darien and we'll hit the north end of the city, Emma and Rini go south, and if Meggie and Kyo can avoid killing eachother, you two stick together and head west. Darien and I will hit east after we search...If anyone finds anything, send out a homing signal."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and transformed. They took off into the city immediately after. It would but sun-down in about an hour, which meant things would get bad soon, if they didn't hurry.


	29. Half Up, Half Down FiftyFifty

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 27

Kasadi stood on the top of the same building she stood on months earlier. The same building that she stood upon minutes before she was unmasked the first time. Sitting on the ledge, she looked into the sunset contemplating her next step. At this very moment, Hiro's alter-ego The Silver Shadow would be taking control and start wreaking havoc on the city. This night would be different than all the others though. This time when Shadow came within, Kasadi would have to take him down. The tricky part was sparing Hiro.

Kasadi had accepted the high probability that she would not walk away from this. At this point it really didn't matter whether she did or not. The only lives that mattered to her were Hiro and the rest of the Senshi. They had to survive. If Hiro made it out of this alive, she could live with no regrets…she could die with no regrets. If her friends were safe and made it home to their families after that night, she could walk through those pearly gates with a clear conscience.

A nice idea, to be sure. But where to start…?

"Come on, Tokyo," Kasadi whispered. "Gimme a clue… Point me in the…"

There was a flash of color in the distance, catching her eye and also by surprise.

"Huh –?" There it was again, and she recognized what it was.

Fireworks. From the other side of the city.

Well, she'd asked for this sign, and it would just be rude to ignore it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She sprinted across rooftops, but having been out of commission for so long, she soon tired and was forced to civilianize herself and take to the streets again.

It was getting late, and the streets were starting to come alive with less-than-desirable company. Kasadi did her best to ignore them, the smells and snippets of conversation she caught as she weaved through the crowd. She was beginning to lose track of where she was.

Her shoulder bashed into a man's passing her.

"Hey!" he said, turning and grabbing her arm. Instantly, he changed gears. "You should be careful, hun. Watch where you're going. Never know who you'll run into."

"S-sorry," she said, jolted out of her mission-mode. "Uh…let go, please?"

The man was about to say something when someone else joined in.

"Maya, there you are," said another guy, gently pulling her away from the other man. "It's okay, Yoko found some extra lavender in the storeroom. We don't need more." He looked at the man Kasadi had bumped into and nodded, smiling. "Good night."

The guy took the hint and stalked off. Kasadi looked at her rescuer; he was young, and reminded her a lot of Kyo, with his gangly limbs and messy hair, yet the sort of presence indicating he could handle himself in a fight. But his tousled hair was dark gold, not black, and his eyes were bright hazel.

"Now that went well," he commented, smiling. "That guy's a neighborhood thug. You handled yourself nicely."

"Thanks," she said automatically, then added, "f-for, uh, helping."

"No problem." He glanced her up and down. "You're a couple blocks from home, aren't you?"

"A few," she admitted. "Um…could you tell me where we are?"

He took her into a small shop a door up from where they'd been. A girl with a funky hairdo, shocks of hot pink and electric blue shooting through the natural raven, was behind the counter playing with what seemed to be a handful of dice. This, she assumed, was Yoko. The shelves and walls were laden with many strange, uncommon things, that could only be –

"Magic supplies?" she asked. "Is this a magic shop?"

"Yeah, my mom's," said the guy. "That's Yoko, my sister," A surprising fact – they looked nothing alike, "I'm David. David James."

"You find her?" Yoko asked, without looking up from what she was doing.

"No, Yo, I'm talking to the shrunken heads," said David.

"Wouldn't be the first time," muttered his sister. She suddenly scooped up the dice and flung them across the counter at them.

Kasadi flinched back instinctively. "Hey!"

"Well that's new," remarked David, looking down at the floor.

They weren't dice; they were small, smooth, ivory-colored stones, rectangular in shape, with strange symbols carved into some of them. Others were blank.

"Half up, half down," said Yoko, looking over at her handiwork. "It's a fifty-fifty. That's better than it should be."

"What –?"

"Two-to-one odds still aren't good, though," continued the strange shop girl, now searching the shelves behind the counter for something. "You need a damn good weapon. Dave, where's that blessed dagger Aunt Chrissa brought back from China?"

"With Aunt Chrissa, in New York," said David. "Hey, Yo, check this out." He bent down and picked up one of the chips. "What symbol is this?"

"Do I have to do all the psychic work around here?" she grumbled, walking around the counter and over to them.

"Seeing as you're the psychic one," replied her brother, "yes."

Yoko took the little domino-like thing from him and without looking at it for long said, "Love. This one means love." She looked at Kasadi. "Oh, I get it. He fell in love with you. That's what's making your odds better."

"What's going on?" Kasadi interjected. "Who are you, what are you talking about – and how do you know about it – and what's going on?"

David pointed to himself. "David." He pointed to his sister. "Yoko." He motioned to the store. "Aya's Corner Supplies Shop."

"I got all that – I'm not an idiot," she snapped. She was a student at Tokyo Academy, for crying out loud! "Tell me what's going on. Really."

"I'm a psychic," Yoko stated bluntly. "When I was two, I saw the world end and developed a taste for punk rock, zombie apocalypse movies and mushroom ravioli."

Kasadi looked at David. He shrugged. "Yeah, we don't get it either."

"That apocalypse I saw in my premonition, though," said the girl, "it was you. Since then, I've dedicated myself to trying to stop you from ending the world. I can hone in on you more easily than I can anyone else in the world, because I do it so often. That's how David knew you were in trouble just now, and why he brought you here. That's why we're helping you. Now, the Shadow's in love with you? You'll need something special…" She turned and hurried through a beaded curtain to another part of the shop.

"It's probably a bit much to process, especially right now," said David. "We tried to figure out where you lived, went to school, that sort of thing, so we could help you sooner, but for some reason we couldn't. Mom thinks it's because we weren't meant to, but I don't buy that 'reason' crap."

"David," Yoko called from the back room. "Where's the box of amulets? The good ones?"

"The gold ones or the silver ones?" he shouted back.

There was a commotion back there then Yoko stepped out, rustling the bead curtain and holding a small wooden box in her hands. She was rummaging through it. "An Egyptian one or a Celtic one, do you think, Dave?"

"I don't know – do you have a preference?" he asked Kasadi.

"Uh – not really," said Kasadi. "I'm…a Christian, actually. Baptist. I don't know if I feel all that comfy wearing pagan relics around my neck."

"Here, how about this one?" Yoko held up a silver charm on a black string. It was a flower of some sort. "It's a lotus – Buddhist. The monk who blessed it said the wearer would be protected from the hell fires. Can you correlate that to Christianity?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Kasadi said, taking it and slipping it over her head.

"And take some water from the sacred springs in China," the girl continued, grabbing a crystal bottle off a shelf, "and a dragon-bone knife." She took down this obviously revered relic down off the wall and held it out to Kasadi, who didn't take it.

"This has all got to be pretty expensive," she said. "I can't take it. I'm not really expecting to come back."

"If you die, we all die," said David. "You Senshi think you're the only ones fending off Armageddon, but there's people like us all over the world taking care of the lesser threats every day. We know there's only so much we can do, because we're not like you guys. So we'll let you do your part, and you should let us do ours."

Kasadi looked at the two very different siblings. They looked so calm, so…used to it. She silently took the knife and the bottle and slipped them into her pockets.

"Thank you," she said to her new, strange friends. "I hope the Senshi can work with you guys in the future."

"You will," said Yoko, smiling. She handed her a folded up map. "You're heading for The Traveler's Shrine on the eastern edge of the city. The far-end of the Hino Shrine grounds. I've circled it on the map, in red." She unexpectedly hugged Kasadi tightly. "You better get going."

"Am I running out of time?" Kasadi asked, worried.

"No, David's starting to crush on you. Run."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We should have brought a compass," said Sailor Star, as she and Mini Moon rested atop a building, catching their breath.

"Less talking, more breathing," said Mini Moon. "Besides," she heaved, "I've got an internal compass. When you come into your powers more, you will too."

"I wonder where the others are," mused Star, looking out at the spread of the city.

"Serena and Darien are somewhere over there," said Mini Moon, motioning, "and Kyo and Meggie are over that way."

"I thought they were supposed to go west."

"Serena figured that she and Dar'd reach the park and could just swing west from there, Meg and Kyo are going east instead." She straightened up and stretched. "Ready?"

Star mimicked her and nodded. "Ready."

Mini Moon turned and leapt across an alley onto the neighboring roof, Star close behind.

And we're off, thought Star. Please be alive, Kasadi. I'll never forgive either of us if you aren't.

With great difficulty, she pushed the others and their whereabouts and even Kasadi's safety from her mind and focused entirely on finding her cousin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take much effort for Kasadi to find the Traveler's Shrine. It was right on the edge of the Hino's property and the only Traveler's Shrine on that side of the city. Not only that, but there was a small festival there that night, celebrating the shrine's dedication as a historical monument. The festivities that had taken place explained the fireworks.

When she entered the clearing, there was only a handful of people left, seeing as the festival was wrapping up. She looked at the small wooden temple and noticed that it was just big enough to house one or two adults on overnight journeys. It was obvious that it hadn't been used in centuries, probably during the feudal era. Long before hotels, trains or any other sort of travel luxuries that exist today.

Once the last of the attendees of the party departed, Kasadi transformed into Sailor Phoenix and waited. She didn't have to wait long before a dark figure stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

"Hiro…" Phoenix stepped forward a little, to get a better look at him. He was in his Silver Shadow garb; mask and all. "Hiro…I was so worried about you."

"That's very flattering Kasadi." He replied, his voice mangled by the electronic voice changer that hid his identity for so long. "I was wondering if you were going to find me tonight."

"I had some help….I didn't want to let you go…I want to help you." Kasadi stepped even closer as he turned his head away.

"I'm too far gone to be helped," he turned back again, "There is nothing you can do."

"Yes there is! We can go away to somewhere safe….somewhere you can't be found, and we can try to break the curse. We can keep trying to free you."

The Shadow chuckled. "Oh Kasadi… It's been a pleasure, but I'm afraid it's time for the charade to end."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


	30. Blood, Sweat, and Phoenix Tears

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 28

He stopped her. Again. This time on the edge of a park, just off the sidewalk.

"We have to keep moving!" Meggie said. "We can't keep stopping every five minutes!"

"If you'd calm down, I wouldn't be making you stop every five minutes," he said. "This isn't good for either of you."

"If you'd let me transform I would calm down a bit," she said.

"Your powers are out of control right now, and the stress you're in right now would just exacerbate that."

"Look at you with the big words," she said, sitting down on a park bench.

"I enjoy big words," he said.

"Here's one for you: ARMEGEDDON. That's what we're gonna get if we don't stop the Shadow."

"No;" he countered, sitting down and turning to her, "that's what _I'm_ gonna get if anything happens to you and this baby. Meg," He took her face gently in his hands, "just calm down, please!"

"But Kasadi–"

"Is a strong, capable young woman. A lot like you." He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"So – what? You're saying we should just leave her high and dry?"

"No, no no no," he said, "that is _not_ what I said." He gently prodded her stomach. "He's our first priority now. We will do everything in our power to help Kasadi, Meggie, I promise. But we just have to keep him in mind the whole time. Remember our deal?"

"Kyo–"

"Meggie."

"I remember," she conceded. "But just don't forget…you're not the only one facing Armegeddon."

"I know," he said, kissing her, then standing up and holding out his hand. "We should move."

"Hey," said someone, surreptitiously calling their attention. A boy their age with messy, tousled, dark blonde hair.

"Look, man," said Kyo, "whatever you're pushing–"

"Call the others," the boy interrupted. "Your friend is here." He handed a piece of paper to Kyo – a flier. "Don't freak," He said in response to their alarmed faces, "Kasadi's a fighter, however much she preaches, and she's okay for now, but she'll need help pronto."

"Who are you?" Meggie asked guardedly.

He smiled. "One of the fighters you don't know."

"DAVID!" shrieked a girl across the street, hanging out of the doorway of a corner shop. "DAVID, DID YOU FIND THEM?"

He cringed, then turned. "YES, YO, I FOUND THEM." He turned back to Kyo and Meggie. "You need to leave, before this gets even worse. For me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You don't know what you're saying – Hiro–!"

"Hiro is a lie, constructed for a specific purpose," said the Shadow. "A lie you fell so easily for." He chuckled darkly. "Think about it. Him with his dark, tortured past, you with your bleeding heart. You always loved artists, didn't you? You'd sign up for art class just to be around those who could present the world with the seemingly intellectual entertainment it wants. Didn't you ever wonder why he was exactly what you wanted? Why he said all the right things at exactly the right time?"

Phoenix couldn't speak; and even if she _could_ – what could she possibly say? She loved Hiro, and couldn't process this information telling her that he wasn't even real, that he was a clay doll used to bring about her death.

He laughed outright now. "You stupid girl! Really? You had to choose the most cliché love interest. You couldn't have made it even a _little_ bit of a challenge?" He scoffed. "An _artist_."

But hadn't Yoko said…what had Yoko said?

'_Oh, I get it. He fell in love with you. That's what's making your odds better_.'

Had Yoko been wrong? Or lying? She didn't even know the girl – what reason had she to trust her? Well, the two of them had helped her, unexpectedly and unnecessarily, while the Shadow was a villain – with a soft, chewy, good-guy center, but still…

She forced a deep breath into her lungs. If Hiro was truly just a façade, then she was going to have to let him go. Of all times, this is when she had to be strongest. She could go home and cry later, but she had to survive this first and she'd be damned if she was going to spend a prophecy on a lie.

"You're a complete ass, you know that?"

"Of course I do. I was created to be a monumental ass. I was created to destroy the one person left to seal the unbreakable bond of the Lost Senshi," He turned to her to find her just glaring at him. "You don't even know what I'm talking about. Look, Sailor Star? she has pure unadulterated energy crammed into one little petite human. Sailor Xena is full of primal power that has been stewing for thousands of years and then there's you; the missing link to it all. One single person with completely, untapped potential. If I let all of that power come together, then my ass is grass."

"So what do you expect from me? That I'll just stand here like a heart broken little girl and take what's coming to me?" Kasadi seethed, "You expect me to _let _you destroy me without a fight?"

"Well that would certainly make my job easier, but no I imagine that you'd go down kicking and screaming." Shadow replied.

"Exactly. So if we're going to end this, I want to see your face. I want the mask off when we fight."

"Fair enough," Shadow pulled off his mask and tossed it aside, and Kasadi stared at the face of the man she fell for. He stared back at her with his glassed over grey eyes and ran a hand through is shoulder-length, black hair.


	31. Consequently

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 29

Emma instinctively made a dash for Kasadi, but hands grabbed her, holding her back.

She screamed and kicked and clawed, desperately trying to rip free. Nothing else was important, nothing else mattered at all; Kasadi was the only thing that meant anything to her. Only one thought registered at all: Save Kasadi.

"Emma!" Kyo shouted over the roar of the bonfire, at the center of which was Kasadi. "Emma, no! You can't reach her—it's the prophecy!"

"Kasadi!" Emma screeched, still tearing brutally at Kyo's arms. She didn't think to be gentle with Kyo, in his injured state, she didn't feel the flesh ripping under her nails, or the blood they were taking with them. She didn't feel anything at that moment except that one statement she knew undoubtedly, unquestionably, to be true: SaveKasadi.

The three Senshi present still in possession of their sanity witnessed the tragedy mostly in silence.

Rini stood with her eyes shut tightly, refusing to watch either Kasadi burn or Emma break. She let go of her arm to gently hold Hiro back, who stood there as if struck dumb. A steady stream of tears flowed down her face. There was nothing anyone could do—the prophecy could not be stopped after all. In spite of everything that had happened, everything they'd done to try to keep Kasadi safe, she just couldn't sit the bench for that one last match.

Meggie dropped to her knees, sobbing in such shock that she couldn't breathe. A world without Kasadi was like a world with Emma—or Kyo, or Sam or any of them: unimaginable.

It felt like the night was shattering, with Kasadi's shrieks piercing every ear and heart within a hundred miles in every direction. The sound wasn't human—it sounded like the most terrifically terrible bird, screeching horribly in the night, as Kasadi burned alive.

The only word in Emma's vocabulary was her cousin's name—her baby cousin, who had to be saved. She knew, she just knew that if she could just get to her—

Suddenly, the fire went out, disappearing into the air like some unseen god had simply snuffed it out.

In Kyo's shock, Emma managed to tear away and dropped to her knees beside what the fire had left behind in addition to a circle of charred earth, ten feet in diameter: Kasadi, still whole, glowing like an ember.

"Kasadi!" she sobbed, gently pulling her cousin into her arms as best she could, supporting Kasadi's head with the crook of her arm. Her skin was burning hot to the touch, but Emma didn't even notice. "Kasadi, no! Please, no! You can't—you just can't—I won't let you! You'll be fine—you're gonna be okay, I promise! You just have to hang on! Please, Kasadi, just hang on!"

The red glow in Kasadi's skin began to flicker and fade; a dying ember.

Emma looked to Kyo, who had come and knelt in front of her, across Kasadi. "Get Serena—get Ami—get Gabby—get somebody, Kyo!"

"Emma…" He shook his head, biting back his own despair, but even he couldn't hold back tears. "Nothing can be done."

"Don't say that!" she screamed at him. "Don't say that without even trying! We can save her—we've done the impossible before, why not again? Why not this time—why not her? Tell me, Kyo! Why?"

A small sound, an attempt at speech, took priority over silence. Emma looked down at Kasadi, who was trying, besides breathing unevenly and shallowly, to speak.

"Kasadi, don't do this to me," Emma sobbed. "I can't—I can't let you die! Don't die on me! Why didn't you stay when I told you to stay? Why do you have to die?"

Kasadi's voice was hoarse and so painful to hear Emma could hardly stand it. "Why…" she croaked, "waste…a good Apocalypse?"

And just like that, she crumbled into a pile of ash, leaving Emma holding nothing but the empty space that had once contained her cousin.

Suddenly Kyo grabbed Emma's wrists, and she noticed for the first time that they had started to glow a dull, pale yellow.

"Emma, don't," said Kyo, forcing an even tone in an effort to talk her down. "Don't do this—Kasadi had no choice, but you do! You can take this and learn from it, let it make you stronger! Don't let it destroy you!"

"We need you, Emma!" said Rini, dropping down next to the shocked shell of a girl. "Don't leave us like this!"

"Emma, you can't leave me too!" said Meggie, joining them. She was still trying to catch her breath and control her grief enough to save the friend she could. "Please! Kasadi's gone, but I can't do this on my own! We proved that last year—please, Emma, don't!"

Emma couldn't form words. Her hands were steadily growing brighter, the light was getting painfully white, and it was spreading up her arms, infecting the rest of her. The air was quivering with the building power that would surge any second. It grew to an audible buzz, and Emma looked at Kyo, totally blank.

"COVER!" Rini shouted, stiffly diving away from Emma and curling into a defensive position, favoring her injured side and pulling Hiro down with her.

"NO!" Meggie screamed, but Kyo grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, covering her head and his own with his arms.

The world erupted in light so intense it seemed to push a breeze through the shrine. It shot up like a beacon, straight through the sky, burst like a missile, and, just for a split second, engulfed the entire earth before zooming straight back to the source: a small shrine on the outskirts of Tokyo.

When the light suddenly ceased, Kyo cautiously lifted his head and forced himself to look at what was sure to be a horrible sight.

To his indescribable surprise, a girl was sitting there, staring at her hands, trying to figure out what had just happened to her. She wore a white dress, the long skirt spread out around her, a lace jacket, swirling with designs of starbursts, and light yellow diamonds set here and there about her person. Placed among the graceful brown curls of her hair was a small, modest tiara set with the same yellow diamonds, and sprinkled over her hair, face, chest, shoulders, arms and dress was what could only be described as "stardust."

"Emma," said Kyo softly, amazed.

Meggie moved to see as well, and Rini rolled onto her back and sat up. Hiro pushed himself up as well. For a moment, they all stared at her in disbelief. How was she still there? Forget how the hell she went Princess Mode, she should have disintegrated just like Kasadi—or even simply burst into nothingness.

She looked at Kyo and Meggie, made a small surprised noise, and fell onto the scorched grass, unconscious.

Meggie scrambled to her, but Rini sprung at her from the other side and got there first.

"Is she dead?" Meggie asked frantically. "Is she dead?"

"I've got a pulse!" Rini said. "But it's weak—we have to get her to the hospital—"

"Like this? 'Hello, Dr. Peacock, could you please treat Her Royal Highness immediately?"

"Who the hell is Dr. Pea—?"

They were interrupted by the most unexpected sound. Bar none.

It sounded muffled, and strangled and confused. Kyo looked at the pile of ash that was—had been—Kasadi, bent down, and, with shaking hands, brushed away top layer of the stuff. He touched something he hadn't expected and quickly drew back his hands, like he'd been burned. Which he had.

Carefully, ever so carefully, he removed the thing from the ashes and held it against his chest protectively, turning to the girls.

"Good gods," murmured Meggie. "Is that…?"

"I…I think it is," he said. "'Revive from the ashes and rise…' It's Kasadi."

"That's impossible," Rini marveled.

"She's a phoenix," said Hiro. "It's what she does."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"…and she'll be back for the fall semester of school, I promise," Trista finished with a flash of her dazzling smile. "I'm sincerely sorry that this there was this mix-up."

"No, no, it's quite all right," said Beth, and she motioned to her laptop, on the coffee table. "All those e-mails…I can't believe it all slipped my mind."

"With four children—two not your own—to worry about, I'm amazed everything doesn't slip your mind," said Trista. "I certainly couldn't do it."

"Well, thank you," Beth said, smiling. "And if there are any problems, don't hesitate to call us. Send her right back here."

"I won't, but I'm very confident there won't be. Kasadi's a great kid, and I'm just happy I can offer her this fantastic opportunity."

Emma and Rini sat on the bottom few steps of the stairs, eavesdropping shamelessly.

"Trista lies like a pro," Emma whispered.

Rini, with her arm strapped securely to her chest (her collarbone had been broken and her shoulder dislocated), carefully moved her head to look at Emma, wincing at the pain. "Yeah, well, I think she's more apt to believe the 'I'm producing a movie on the beach, working with method artists, my costume designer would love to meet Kasadi' story. Hell, she's more apt to believe anything than the truth."

"You mean the 'Kasadi's a phoenix and she needs to spend the summer growing from an infant back to a teenager' story?"

"Yeah, that one." They paused, then Rini hissed, "They're coming!" and the two of them sprung up and scrambled up the steps.

"—I'll be sure to have Kasadi call you as soon as I get to the beach house," Trista was saying as she and Beth walked to the door. "And please pass my apologies for the confusion on to your husband. I'm sorry I missed him."

"Oh, it's all right—he's on a business trip. Big breakthrough at work. He might be up for a promotion."

"Well give him my sincere congratulations," said Trista. While Beth opened the door, Trista looked up the stairs at the two teens peering around the corner, and mouthed "You owe me."

Both girls mouthed back "Thank you!"

Trista smiled at them, bid Beth goodbye, and left. Before Emma's mother could spot them, the two hurried off down the hall. As they passed the empty room that should have been occupied, Rini asked "Hey, where's Meg? I thought she was supposed to be resting it up."

"I think she's at the Wakimaya's."

"Again?"

"Kyo almost got himself killed protecting her, and he's still pretty critical," said Emma. "She's pretty much spent the last two weeks over there helping out. She feels really guilty about the whole thing."

Rini sighed and shook her head. "Poor kids."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you have enough pillows?"

"Yes, I'm good."

"Do you want me to turn up the heat?"

"Meg, you already have it up to 70…"

"Do you need more Vicadin?"

"Meggie, if I take any more I'll need to get my stomach pumped."

"Are you sure I can't get you something?"

"Meggie." Kyo grabbed a hold of his girlfriend's arm and pulled her onto the bed. "Sit."

"But—"

"Sit."

She reluctantly obeyed. Secretly, she was glad to get off her feet. For a couple of days, she had been feeling really off. She hoped that it wasn't anything that would endanger the baby, and she knew that she should get it checked out, but due to the fact that absolutely no one knew that this baby existed, she had no idea how to go about that.

But she hated that Kyo had gotten hurt like this, and because of her.

"I know, I know," she said, before he could start on her. "I'm sorry—"

"You don't have to apologize."

"I love you," she told him, "and I hate that I did this to you."

"You did not do this to me," he laughed. "As if you could."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is." He playfully tried to grab her, but she shot out of his reach, standing a few feet from the bed.

"Oh no," she said. "You heard the—"

Suddenly a pain shot through her abdomen. She clutched at her stomach and before she knew what going on—before she could put a single word to her fantastic confusion, she fell to the floor.

"Meggie!" Kyo threw off the blanket over his legs and dropped down next to her, fighting past the horrible pain in his side. "Are you okay? I said are you okay?" She didn't answer. "Not funny, Meg, this is so not funny!"

Her eyes snapped open and she seemed too horrified to speak.

At last she managed to choke out. "The…the baby…!"

Kyo swore and Gabriella came scampering down into the room.

"Gabby!" he said desperately. "Gabby, something's wrong—"

"I know—it's the child," said the little cat. "He's leaving."

"What?" exclaimed Kyo. "Don't we have a solid eighteen years before we have to worry about that?"

"Kyo!" Meggie yelped, grabbing his hand.

"This is going to hurt," Gabby warned.

"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital?" Kyo yelled he tried to keep Meggie's movements to a minimum. The whole situation made him sick. Meggie's screams, her pain, his child's pain. It made him sick that there was nothing he could do to make this all stop.

"There is nothing a doctor can do, Kyo." Gabby hung her head. "I have been helping him tap into the Lotis, to heal himself, but…the enemy has been relentless."

"No! NO!" Meggie cried.

All Kyo could do was hold her and tell her whenever he could get a word in that it was going to be okay. When it was over, Gabby explained.

"He held on as long as he could—I was beginning to think he'd be just fine. Apparently…not."

"What happened?" Meggie demanded.

"The battle…"

Meggie buried her face in Kyo's shoulder. This was just too horrible. She shouldn't have gone into the battle. He'd told her not to go into the battle! Why didn't she listen? Kasadi was fine, or would be, and no thanks to her, and now…

Through the haze of confusion and desolation, Gabby's voice reached her.

"Take heart," she was saying, "he is not gone."

"What?" asked Kyo.

"He is waiting. Waiting for his next chance—there are some events that cannot be avoided, some moments too integral to remove from life. This child is too important, too powerful. You were meant to raise him." Gabby knew it wouldn't alleviate the pain—emotional or physical, at this loss, but hopefully it would prevent the despair that would follow. "He was a very great threat to the enemy, and they will be relieved he is not going to be a problem just yet. But one day, this child will be entrusted to your keeping. He is yours, regardless of all of factors; know this one thing to be true: just as you are undeniably each other's, he is yours."


	32. Downsizing

Great Angel of Fire

Chapter 30

When the final bell rang at Tokyo Central High, the mass of students flooded into the hallways, as to be expected. Out of all the talk of summer plans, none were quite as exciting or as unique as those Emma Hanzo was sharing with her friends.

"So, basically we'll go out in the beginning of July to check up on her and see how things are going," she was telling Rini as they made their way through the throngs of teenagers cleaning out lockers and signing yearbooks.

"How is she doing as of right now?" Rini asked as she waved down Katsuro, who was wandering aimlessly.

"Well, right now she's about three years old. She's chatting up a storm. Trista said that from what it seems, she remembers and understands all that happened. She just sees it from a toddler's point of view."

"So, at this rate, she's ageing about….a year and a half per week," Rini calculated, "and so that means she'll be fully grown again by the end of the summer."

"What now?" Katsuro asked inserting himself into the conversation.

"Kasadi."

"Ah. How is she?"

Emma zoned out as Rini gave him the update. It was only three weeks ago when they had the most urgent emergency Senshi meeting in history.

Two and half weeks earlier

"Okay, so someone please explain to me what's going on?" Serena asked as she stared at the two girls in front of her. Rini was laying on the couch with a sling for her dislocated arm, and Emma was in a rocking chair near by holding a small bundle.

After the battle, Kyo had been rushed to the hospital after discovering that he was bleeding quite heavily from his abdomen. He had lacerated one of his kidneys, and also found out that he had several broken ribs. Meggie went with him not only to stay by his side, but also to get stitches for the gash on her forehead.

Emma, only suffering from bruised ribs was caring for the baby that was taken from Kasadi's ashes.

Luna, Gabby and Artemis entered the room and jumped up to the coffee table.

"The child is Kasadi," Luna explained, "Resurrected from the ashes of the Phoenix."

"How did this happen?" Rini asked carefully sitting up.

"Kasadi first healed Hiro with her tears. The tattoo on his back was the source of his possession. Ancient mythology states that phoenix tears have healing capabilities for injuries, mystical or natural," Gabby said. "However, saving Hiro had only been part of her job. Once he was safe, she was to defeat Mordae. When she attacked him with the fire-bird spell, he couldn't continue in the fight, therefore fulfilling the prophecy she had been destined for. And like all Phoenixes, she came to her demise by bursting into flame."

"Then how did we end up with her as a baby?" Emma asked, as she shifted Kasadi into her other arm.

Here, Artemis took up the tale, "Phoenixes are reborn from their own ashes. She was supposed to stay dead when she was incinerated. However, Emma, when you went 'princess-mode,' as you all like to call it, you used your energy to bring her back just before her soul had been lost forever." He hopped up onto the side-table next to Emma and put a paw on the arm of the rocking chair, to get a better look at the infant. He shifted his gaze to Emma. "The same energy that you've used to save Sam, Rini, Hoshiko and Meggie in the past. But your power could only do so much. Because Kasadi's body was already gone, the universe had to start from scratch. She had to have a new body created," he explained. "Now, she will have to grow and mature all over again."

"What do I tell her parents?" Emma asked with tears filling her eyes. Her and Aunt and Uncle wouldn't understand what happened to their daughter. All this time they had believed that she was just a normal student, studying abroad, and would be home for the summer.

"We have reason to believe that Kasadi will grow at an alarming rate, due to the potency of the powers you used on her. You see, mystical births are not like ordinary mortal births. I have no doubt that Kasadi will be back to normal in a matter of months…a year tops," Gabriella assured her. "All you need is to keep her hidden until that happens."

"How do we do that? I can't keep her at the house. My parents would totally notice a rapidly growing child hanging around," Emma said.

"How about Kyo? His parents know all about us," Rini suggested.

"His parents travel during the summer for Lotis stuff. And Kyo is in no shape to care for a baby…even if he wasn't a complete whacko," Emma said.

"I have an idea," Serena stepped in for the first time since the conversation began. "Trista has a summer house on the beaches of Shikoku. Considering the main reason for Trista being in this time period is to help us and keep us out of trouble, she should be agreeable to taking Kasadi and hiding her there."

"How soon can we get her out there?" Rini asked.

"This weekend, I imagine," Serena replied, "Darien and I will take care of her while we make arrangements."

"Sounds like Kasadi is going on vacation," Emma smiled softly as she watched the small child sleep in her arms. That's when she knew that everything was going to be okay.

"Emma!"

"Hmm?" Emma was dragged back into reality when Rini started shaking her shoulders.

"Where's Meggie?"

"Oh…I'm not sure. She's been taking off right after lunch all week," Emma told her.

"She's really been out of it lately," Katsuro added, "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know. Ever since the battle, she's really been broody. Something is bugging her."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Rini asked.

"No. I have a feeling that it's something really bad. But if you push her about it, she just pulls even farther away. She'll deal with it on her own as long as she can, and then she'll come and let us in," Emma explained. "It's just how Meggie works."

"I hope everything works out," Katsuro sighed as her wrapped his arm around Rini's shoulders. "Hey babe, we gotta take off. Movie starts in an hour."

"Okay," Rini turned to Emma. "See you later. Keep me posted."

"Will do," Emma smiled. She watched the couple walk off and sighed. The past year had been the craziest yet since she moved to Japan, and the most stressful. She barely saved Kasadi, and now Meggie was reverting back to past behavior of secrets and depression. The only thing she could count on was that everything just had to turn out okay in the end. It was just too bad that she had to go through all of this first to get to it.

Emma smiled when she saw Sam move toward her, and she gave him a big hug when he reached her. At least for now, things were quiet. But gods know, it never lasts all that long, so she was going to enjoy it while she still could.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mordae knelt before his master and smiled. "She has arisen, my lord. It is all going perfectly according to plan."

"Really?" said the man shrouded in shadow. "You think so?"

"But of course—from the ashes of the Phoenix, She rose," said Mordae. "She is not the great creature She once was, but with us She will be even greater! These are the plans laid by Prince Diamond—it is all as we hoped it would be!"

"You know nothing of Prince Diamond's plans!" barked the man. "You bring shame to his brilliance by claiming so! Or has it escaped your attention that She was not the only thing you drew out of the power of that shrine?"

Mordae was utterly caught off-guard. He'd been expecting a hero's welcome—a promotion even, seeing as since Diamond was dead, the new Master would need to appoint a general and successor soon. He stammered, "M-my Lord Akusin—"

"The Phoenix is risen, you—idiot!" Akusin kicked over his chair. It clattered to the floor with a jarring racket. "She was to die, to keep the Senshi incomplete, and yet you let the Star revive her! Now we—"

A dark, graceful hand rested on Akusin's shoulder, quieting him.

"Fear not," said the owner. "My army is already massing. From every corner of this earth, they come. They will be here soon. The Senshi is no threat to us." She held up the small vial that hung by a fine silver chain around her neck. "So long as I have the Innocent's blood and the Phoenix's tears, they are nothing."

"But what of the child?"

"She is but an infant, my lord," Mordae interjected before she could. "They have hidden her, to allow her to reform, but I shall find her and end her, I swear on—"

"Silence!" snapped Akusin. "I know where the Phoenix makes her nest. I will wait to see what threat she poses." He looked back to the woman next to him. "What of the boy?"

Another figure stepped from the shadows; a tall, slim man. "Buon giorno, signore. You need not worry about that. I have taken care of it. Personally."

"Meaning?"

"The child will not come to term. I promise you." The man crossed himself and piously murmured, "Deus vult."

Akusin relaxed. "Very well. Watch them. They must not know what we plan to do, or all could be lost."

"I will see it done, my lord," said Mordae, bowing low.

The prince's replacement looked at his loyal minion. "I ask too much of you, Mordae."

"No, my lord, truly, you do not!"

"Then why is it that it never gets done?"

Akusin nodded at the woman, and she suddenly sprung from where she stood. As she leapt through the air, her body changed, becoming larger, less human, completely unnatural, hideous and terrifying. Mordae's screams echoed through the chamber, as Akusin and the man stood placidly by and watched, Akusin with only vague interest but with extreme annoyance, and the other with utter fascination.

When she stood, once more a darkly beautiful woman, She had blood all down the front of her dress and on her face and hands. Mordae lay, practically untouched, on the cold, marble floor, eyes open and glassy, and a hole in his chest where his heart had once been.

She looked back at the man. "Gabriel," she said. "We have work to do."


	33. Epilogue

Great Angel of Fire

Epilogue

Kasadi looked up at the tall redhead standing before her. If she didn't know better, she wouldn't have believed that the woman in question was Meggie.

Before, Meggie had long, red hair, with a pale complexion and a smattering of freckles across her nose. She was slender with legs that went on forever, and for the most part- a smile on her face. The woman that Kasadi saw now had shorter hair, and her already lean figure seemed thinner, more muscular. Kasadi could easily imagine that this woman was very active. But the biggest difference that she saw between her best friend and the woman in front of her was that there was a spark missing from her eyes. Her deep blue eyes looked stormy and haunted. As if there were thousands of memories hiding behind them, but she didn't have the strength to release them.

"Meggie…" Kasadi said as if she was trying to convince herself that this was indeed her long lost friend.

"May I sit?" she asked. Kasadi nodded silently and Meggie sat in the chair across from her.

"Do you want something to drink?" Kasadi asked cautiously, still studying the other woman's face.

"Um…no. Actually, I can't stay terribly long. I just wanted to see you while I was in town, " Meggie replied and then glanced over to Rose-Marie who was quietly playing with her mother's spoon. "Oh Kasadi, she is beautiful."

"You're leaving again?" Kasadi asked, completely ignoring the compliment. "But you just got here!"

"I know, it's just…" Kasadi didn't even let her finish her thought. She just stood up and started bundling Rose-Marie up again to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have if I knew that you were just going to take off again," she replied as she put the baby's jacket on, followed by her own. "I can't believe I actually thought you might stick around this time. That life might finally go back to the way it was before Emma disappeared…or at least as much as it could without Emma," Kasadi looked up to the ceiling and blinked back tears, "I'm so stupid."

"No, Kas. You don't understand- "

"I don't want to hear it, Meggie." Kasadi slung the baby bag over her shoulder and walked out of the café. For a moment Meggie just sat there with her mouth gaped open, but that moment passed and she then moved to follow.

"Kasadi! Kasadi wait." Meggie dashed out the door of the little café onto the cold streets. She looked to her left and saw Kasadi walking briskly towards the nearest parking garage. "Kasadi! Don't be like this!"

The brunette turned on her heels and glared with a fury she was sure Meggie had never seen before. "Don't be like what! Hurt? Confused? Angry? Who are you to tell me how to be? You think that after disappearing without a trace for _ten _years that you can just come on in and just say 'Hey Kasadi, I've been missing for a decade but I just wanted to swing by and say hello before I leave town again!' did you really think that I would take that laying down!"

Meggie stood there and just stared at Kasadi who was clutching to her daughter in the wind, tears pouring down her face. "Why did you leave?" Kasadi asked,

"Because I wanted to find her," Meggie replied as she ran her hands through her hair, "When I couldn't find her, I shut down. So I hid."

"Where?"

"I spent five years looking for Emma and Hoshiko. I went back to Montrose, I tried North Carolina. I looked in Ireland, Italy, France, and anywhere else that I could think of. After that, I gave up. I ran out of ideas. So, since I couldn't go home, I went somewhere that I could at least try to call home. So I ended up in Australia. I was doing some vigilante work for a politician trying to clean up the streets. It paid good money and offered me a whole new identity so that no one would find me."

"Well that back fired on you, didn't it?" Kasadi seethed.

"Yeah…" Meggie sighed, "Then Serena ended up finding me. How? I still don't know, I didn't get too much into it. And after I saw her, I went to Hoshi. I saw the remains of her life, I saw the statue….and then I knew it was time to come home. It was time to stop hiding. "

"Why did you have to hide in the first place? Do you realize how much you missed? My _wedding reception, _for one_._ It was your turn to give the Maid of Honor speech and guess what? The Maid of Honor was gone. Not only that, but you missed the births of my children. You were gone. And then, I got the news that Emma died, and you weren't here. You didn't even know! And then Hoshiko was found and I couldn't go anywhere near her because Emma named _you _her guardian and you were nowhere to be found! Aunt Beth and Uncle Hotaka never got to see their granddaughter because you weren't there. And it's not even as if I could petition for custody against Serena because she's on the _goddamn_ _moon!" _

"I know," Meggie replied. She wasn't even fazed by the complete meltdown happening in the street because she knew she deserved it. "I know I was wrong. I know it was wrong to hide. But being here drove me insane because I knew that my best friend was out there somewhere and I was sitting in Tokyo. And then when I couldn't find her, I lost hope. Emma was the only person on earth who could keep me in one place. And God, I hated leaving you. I did. I was wracked with guilt for ten years because I knew that I had hurt you so bad. And that's part of the reason why I couldn't come back. I couldn't face all of the people I left behind because I felt like that on top of abandoning them, but I failed them. Including you, and Rini and Kyo….and Okaa, and Papa Hanzo. I failed you guys and I couldn't handle that… I'm so sorry Kasadi. I really truly am. Please understand that…."

Kasadi didn't know what to think or say, which is why it was a good thing that Rose-Marie started fussing. "Shh , sweetie, I know," she whispered. She looked over to Meggie. She knew that if she walked out now, this may be the last time she'll ever see Meggie. But even if she didn't, it still may be the last time she sees Meggie. She might as well make the most of it.

"I have to take the Rosie home, and be home for the other two when they get home from school. Are you coming?"

Meggie smiled a small but sad smile, "Yeah, I'm coming."

"Did you drive here, or do you need a ride?"

"Um, I have a rental. I can follow."

Kasadi nodded and then turned to walk to the car again.

* * *

After putting the baby down, Kasadi went downstairs to her studio where she found Meggie looking at pictures on the wall. While here entire house was filled with pictures of her family, Kasadi's studio walls were dedicated to Emma. There were Pictures from back in high school, pictures of her and Sam's wedding, leading up to the few pictures of the Christmas Eve before she disappeared. Pictures of Hoshiko's first few months were also scattered across as well, but there were not nearly as many. After all, she was only two months old when she vanished with her mother.

Kasadi stood next to Meggie to look at the photos.

"You know, after word came that she was killed Josh prepared their house for the market. But he didn't have the heart to throw anything away. He put all of the furniture in storage, sent all the personals to Sam and Emma's parents. But, no one could bear looking at the pictures. It hurt everyone too much. So I took them. They remind me of the Emma we knew before her life crashed down around her. You know…the Emma we knew."

Meggie nodded in agreement, as she focused on a picture from high school. It was right before they left for New York City to do Junior Broadway. They were standing as a group; Kasadi, Kyo, Rini, Sam, Meggie. And off to the left was Emma, smiling her pearly smile- showing just enough gum that made her feel self-conscious.

Everyone would agree that Emma had easily been the happiest out of all of them. As long as she had her friends and family, she was content. That's all she needed. When Sam died, a huge piece of her was lost and she never recovered. Friends and family weren't enough anymore. They all came around to try to help, working together to help keep her head above water. But the second she was gone, all the family and friends that were so dear to her had begun to fall apart. They no longer had the bright and beautiful and loving super glue that kept the group together. Kasadi had seemed to be the only one out of all of them who even tried to keep it going. Now- Meggie had to try to help pull everyone back in again.

"Meg," Kasadi broke the silence, "Have you talked to Kyo?"

Of course, Meggie should have realized that in order to do that, she would have to face some fears. But this particular fear was going to be harder to swallow than others.

"No, I haven't. I don't think he's going to want to see me though."

"I think you should at least try," Kasadi encouraged, "It's the least you could do after leaving him in the dark like that."

"There you go being my conscience again…." Meggie sighed, "I guess I'm staying in Tokyo for a few days" Kasadi smiled softly and then turned to walk away. Meggie assumed that she was going to go look up Kyo's number.

Meggie looked back to the picture, specifically at Emma. She missed her so much, and let losing Emma drive a wedge between her and the people that she really needed to move forward and now, with Kasadi's help she was going to fix it. Or at least try to.

* * *

A.N: I cannot even begin to try to explain myself as to why it has taken me a year to update- the epilogue no less! As you know, Meggie and I started college and that ate up a lot of time. But that's not even the half of it. This year was very, very rough for both Meggie and I. I can't speak for Meggie, but I personally dealt with a lot of emotional strain that literally plugged up all creative outlets. On top of that, I was suffering from hypothyroidism which made life very difficult for me and made writing almost impossible. But now- I'm back. I'm feeling a lot better, and I finally feel the creativity settling back into me. As soon as this chapter is posted, I will be planning for Universal Chaos and will be spending all summer writing. I am so so so sorry that this is coming so late and I absolutely expect that very few of you are actually going to read this, and I completely understand. For those of you who are still reading and still looking for updates after all of this time- Thank you so much. I am so glad to be back in the saddle and truly hope not to disappoint you again.

Much Love

Emma


End file.
